Upcycling Blogs

As the importance of eco-friendly living becomes ever clearer, demand for sustainable interiors continues to grow. In fact, sustainability is now a familiar buzzword within many industries, sectors and products, including home décor. However, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that this is much more than just a passing fad. So, more and more interior designers and companies are embracing sustainable materials, alongside the concept of both recycling and upcycling. As a result, we hope sustainability and eco-friendly furnishings become part of a wider lifestyle choice for the foreseeable future.

Recycling versus upcycling

While both have plenty to commend them, there are key differences between recycling and upcycling. Recycling – the more familiar term – is the process of turning waste into a reusable product or material. So, this tends to cover everyday items such as glass, paper and plastic. However, these decrease in quality each time we recycle them.

On the other hand, upcycling, as the name suggests, involves an upgrade. It’s therefore a process whereby we reuse discarded materials or objects to create something, which is higher quality than the original. So, within interiors, it’s an innovative and intelligent way to repurpose sustainable materials to create unique items, such as furniture and accessories. Therefore, thanks to the very nature of upcycling, there is no compromise on quality, as demonstrated by the companies showcased here.

Matthew Wailes

At Matthew Wailes, we are leading the upcycling charge within high quality soft furnishings with our LuxuryEco collection. After all, plastic pollution is a modern-day plague that is choking our oceans and the marine life within it. So, together with one of our manufacturing partners, The Carpet Maker, we have learned how to retrieve plastic bottles from the sea in Thailand. We then transform these into a unique fibre, which we use to create bespoke carpets and rugs.

The plastic bottles we recover convert into chip form, which we then spin in Thailand to produce spools of yarn. This upcycled yarn then becomes a substitute for other fibres, such as silk or mercerised cotton. As a result, this sustainable thread is long-lasting, repels water, and is stain- and mildew-resistant. In addition, it's even flame-retardant and feels velvety soft.

Quality with a conscience: Our Nautilus rug in Rust – part of our LuxuryEco collection –
made from upcycled plastic bottles recovered from the ocean in Thailand

James Shaw

Waste plastic is also a key theme within the work of James Shaw, who designs fine objects. So Shaw has invented a hand ‘gun’ which extrudes plastic bags into long strips. While hot, he can form them into furniture and other items, including masks, clocks, lighting and cutlery.

James Shaw’s Plastic Baroque Mantel Clock made from hand-extruded high-density polyethylene (HDPE)

Claire Malet

Claire Malet is a metal artist and silversmith, whose work is inspired by natural forms and landscapes. Now, she uses 100% certified recycled silver, and her gold leaf is sourced from a supplier with “conflict-free certification”. We've found that organic forms feature heavily within her portfolio, as do sustainable materials. As a result, this is a collection of upcycled works of art, many of which are bespoke or available to commission.

Claire Malet’s upcycled Winter Sketch Vessels are made from reformed steel cans combined with 24ct gold and 12ct white gold

Kizi Studio

Kizi Studio is a product and architecture design agency, which delivers a wide variety of projects, including furniture and interiors. Of course, chairs and tables are obvious candidates for upcycling and sustainable materials. But the Kizi team have seriously upped the ante with their Artichair, which features thistle (also known as wild artichoke).

In fact, the original version began life as a case study on the alternative use of agricultural waste. Using the top of the plant (obtained from the biofuel industry), this company has created a new eco-material. So, they are exploring a number of possible applications for it, within sustainable product design.

Kizi Studio’s Artichair has repurposed the wild artichoke thistle, a plant native to the western
and central Mediterranean region, to create an eco-material

Foresso by Conor Taylor

In material terms, we can gain sustainability from different sources. So recycled/upcycled materials is one. However, using materials that are a renewable resource, and grow easily, is another. Wood is a prime example.

We've discovered an exciting development in this sphere. Have you heard of Foresso? It's a timber terrazzo range. In fact, it's made from a composite sheet material composed of timber, wood waste from sawmills, cement, waste lime plaster, resin and pigment. It’s then cast onto a birch plywood substrate, and sealed with a hardwax oil. So this versatile sustainable material can be used to make countertops, furniture, wood panelling and even flooring.

Foresso’s The London Collection by Conor Taylor is an homage to the city’s different neighbourhoods.
Each colourway was inspired by the aesthetic and rich history of the capital. The timber used was sourced from trees felled within London

Harrison Spinks

There are so many ways to introduce sustainability into every room in your home – including the bedroom. So, Yorkshire bedmaker Harrison Spinks is on a mission to make its customers sleep easier – in every sense – with its eco-friendly beds and mattresses.

We hear the company owns a sustainable forest, which provides the wood for its divans. Eschewing non-recyclable materials such as foam, it grows hemp and flax on its farm for its mattress fillings. And it even rears its own sheep, for their wool! In fact, its processes are just as important as its products. By farming its own materials, and manufacturing its own products, Harrison Spinks say they are saving more than 1,300 tonnes of CO2 every year.

Harrison Spinks’ Seasonal Turn Sapphire bed features a mattress packed with natural,
sustainable upholstery layers included Egyptian cotton, tree silk, and Alpaca wool

Made in Ratio

Fans in search of sustainable contemporary furniture should explore Made In Ratio, which champions natural, renewable and recycled materials. Its Stellarnova legs collection features biomorphic forms inspired by nature, sand cast in recycled aluminium or solid bronze. Designed with a triangulated attachment point, each leg is self-supportive with the tabletop, which reduces the amount of material used. Completely modular, the legs can be positioned with tabletops of any size and shape.

Designed by Brodie Neill, the Stellarnova table shown features legs in recycled aluminium with a patinated finish

Paul Kelley

Paul Kelley designs and hand makes modernist furniture for clients all over the world. An advocate of upcycling, Kelly often uses his own workbenches to create innovative pieces. So, examples include this cube which opens out to reveal a striking black and gold writing desk and stool.

This upcycled black and gold desk was created by Paul Kelley
using an old benchtop, cast acrylic, mahogany and 22ct gold leaf

Get in touch with us here to find out more about our Matthew Wailes LuxuryEco collection. It is perfect those who want to help the planet by lowering plastic waste in the ocean and invest in a luxury rug or carpet which will stand the test of time.

There is no doubt that marine plastic pollution has now reached epidemic proportions. In fact, the results are proving catastrophic for the environment. But, at Matthew Wailes, we've been studying ways in which we can help reduce the impact of plastic pollution in the ocean. So, read on to find out about our contribution as Matthew Wailes Ltd in partnership with The Carpet Maker Thailand.

Now, we can all do our bit towards reducing plastic waste by simply using far less. However, when it comes to manufacturing luxury goods, we wanted to investigate if there was anything else we could do. So, we consulted with one of our manufacturing partners, The Carpet Maker, in Thailand. As a result, we found we could transform clear plastic bottles into a unique textile fibre to create bespoke carpets and rugs.

After all, the volume of these discarded bottles creates such a huge problem. Take a trip to your local supermarket and you'll see how plastic bottles continue to be widely available to all. In fact, research reveals that people use nearly a million plastic bottles around the world every minute.

Plastic pollution facts

In Thailand, the residents are said to use around 4,000 million plastic bottles each year. In fact, this country has 23 coastal provinces and more than 10,000,000 tonnes of waste has ended up in the sea. So, it's no wonder this country is the fifth biggest plastic pollution contributor in the world.

These plastic pollution facts are just incredible. We hear the volume of plastic consumption all over the world has increased to more than 400 million tonnes in the last 100 years. However, as a luxury carpet and rug specialist, we felt it important to try to help where possible. In fact, we hope our discovery of upcycled yarn for the luxury UK market could help to springboard an eco-friendly future for all high-end carpet manufacturing.

Marine destruction

Plastic debris is actually responsible for the deaths of millions of marine animals each year. Hard plastic is renowned for slicing the legs of sea turtles, for example. Meanwhile, other plastic rubbish can be mistaken for food, which will ravage a marine animal's digestive system.

In fact, a baby dugong which was washed up in waters off Thailand a few months ago recently died from a stomach infection caused by swallowing bits of plastic. Wildlife conservation organisations list this species as vulnerable and she was only eight months old. However, this has cast another spotlight on the issue of plastic pollution in the ocean.

Purposeful partnership

Earlier this year, we started exploring how we could use plastic bottles in our bespoke carpet and rug manufacturing process in Thailand. As the country is already working on cleaning up its shores, a major part of their programme is the removal of plastic waste, including bottles, from the sea.

Upcycling plastic

Working closely with our Thai manufacturers, we have formed a strong partnership helping to address plastic pollution in the ocean in cooperation with the country's Research & Innovation for Sustainability Centre (RISC). As a result, we now work with various upcycling plants in Thailand whose dedicated collectors retrieve discarded plastic waste from the sea. So, we remove plastic bottles from these sites to ultimately transform them into upcycled yarn. This innovative method will certainly help to reduce the problem of plastic pollution in the ocean.

The process

Plastic bottles are converted into chip form, which are then spun using special techniques to ultimately produce spools of yarn. The bespoke carpet itself is then made using this upcycled yarn as a substitute for other fibres with a similar handle, such as silk or mercerised cotton.

The benefits

Quality has always been key in everything we produce so, apart from reducing the environmental impact, this upcycled yarn has a whole host of other benefits, too. This is an innovative thread, which repels water and is stain and mildew resistant. After all, plastic from which the yarn derives is incredibly long-lasting. It's even flame retardant and features a velvety soft texture to the touch. So, this fibre will result in an easy to maintain rug or carpet, which will stand the test of time, look stylish and feel super soft underfoot, too.

The facts

When we learned of this new concept for luxury custom production for our products, we were excited. Our Thai manufacturers are now transforming plastics waste into new value-added products through this innovative approach. However, they also want to conserve the beauty of Thailand's sea in a sustainable manner, which we fully support.

In fact, we use the equivalent of 100 clear plastic bottles via our upcycled yarn for every square metre of bespoke carpet we are producing. So, you can only imagine the wide-ranging implications this could have for the luxury carpet and rug manufacturing industry long-term.

New bespoke collection

We officially launch LuxuryEco, our new collection of bespoke carpets and rugs made from upcycled yarn, next month. In fact, we have chosen Decorex International for the big reveal. After all, it is the only show of its kind for the luxury UK interior design industry.

There, we will showcase a carefully curated selection of bespoke carpets and rugs, all of which feature upcycled yarn. So don't forget to put our stand, M243, at the top of your list of must-sees at Kensington Olympia soon. This way, you will see how we are helping to combat plastic pollution in the ocean. Furthermore, you will experience some exquisite quality carpet and rug design ideas, featuring upcycled yarn, first-hand.