High-end office chair uses marine plastic to achieve material innovation design

When launched in 1994, Herman Miller's Aeron chair was a pioneer in the office furniture industry
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Designed by Bill Stumpf and Don Chadwick, this chair is still the best-selling item in Herman Miller's line of work chairs
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In order to create a chair suitable for all different body types, the two designers conducted extensive research and then came up with a highly innovative solution in terms of ergonomics and materials
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Unlike most office chairs of the time, this new design did not rely on the use of foam, fabric or leather, and quickly became the benchmark for ergonomic seating
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Now, Herman Miller is announcing a further material innovation for its Aeron seat: using plastic from the ocean
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According to a Sept.
1 announcement, the entire Aeron chair portfolio, including a new color called Onyx Ultra Matte, will be available in recycled content from so-called mismanaged plastic waste
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The decision is in line with the company's commitment to use 50 percent recycled content in all materials by 2030, and a natural fit for membership in NextWave Plastics, an industry-led open source group of leading technology companies and consumer brands A collaboration aimed at developing the first global ocean plastic supply chain network
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"Each year, an estimated 8 million tons of plastic enter the ocean
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That's roughly the equivalent of dumping a garbage truck full of plastic into the ocean every minute," said Gabe Wing, director of sustainability at Herman Miller.
To play an active role in the plastic problem, we are eager to continue to do our part to keep plastic out of the ocean by adding plastic to the Aeron seat
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”

The Aeron is just the latest in a growing list of products Herman Miller has redesigned using ocean plastic
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The effort also includes parts of the recently launched OE1 workplace collection, the Sayl chair in Europe, a utility tray as part of the base unit, and its latest textile collection, Revenio, made from 100% recycled materials, including Biodegradable polyester
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The company is also reducing its footprint by adding ocean plastic to returnable shipping boxes that bring seat parts from suppliers and plastic bags to keep products safe during shipping
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Herman Miller estimates that by integrating ocean plastic into all of these products and packaging solutions, up to 234 tons of plastic could be diverted from the ocean each year, equivalent to preventing nearly 400,000 plastic milk containers or as many as 23 million plastic bottles each year into the ocean
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Ocean plastic is plastic material that has not yet entered the ocean and is classified as "mismanaged waste"
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That is, plastic that is not collected or is unlikely to be collected, and that will not be found within 50 kilometers of the coastline
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Common examples of marine plastics include plastic bottles, water bottles, bottle caps and fishing gear
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The plastic used in Aeron currently comes from India and Indonesia, two locations where Herman Miller and other NextWave member companies create demand and build supply chains for the material
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