STORAGEWARE
The ReBorn way
With a mission to address the unsustainable ‘fast homeware’ habits, ReBorn was launched.
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n September, ReBorn, a range of recycled housewares products made in the UK, was launched. In a world where consumer choices impact the environment, ReBorn emerges as a beacon of change, offering a sustainable solution to the housewares industry’s pressing environmental challenges. “We’re trying to turn the housewares category upside down. The industry is full of amazing brands and products, most of which, however, are made from virgin materials in the Far East. It is a very disconnected supply chain and it becomes extremely difficult to understand where components, parts and raw materials are coming from. Whilst the housewares category is huge and worth over £7 billion every year in the UK, the majority of manufacturers have not committed to making recyclable products meaning they end up in a landfill. An estimated 70 million housewares products are dumped into landfill each year which is a huge issue. I came up with ReBorn as a way of doing things differently, to see if we could make things entirely from waste,” says Brian Walmsley, CEO and founder of ReBorn.
Research and development To create the range, a partnership was formed with Brunel University London’s chemical engineering department, where the recycled plastic is quality checked for home use, durability and crucially, recyclability. Brunel-based environmental scientists led by Dr Eleni lacovidou, also tracked the product’s lifecycle to compare its carbon emissions with conventional virgin plastic, import-reliant homeware products. “Based on the life-cycle analysis which looks at the carbon impact, our products save 79% of carbon when compared to the conventional methods used within the housewares industry. In the first five weeks following the launch, we saved 5000 kilos of waste going to landfill and 85,000 kilos
24 | October/November 2023
of carbon. That is what is exciting about this project, you can make it easy for consumers to make a more positive choice for the environment,” says Walmsley. “ReBorn promises to markedly reduce the number of virgin plastics the UK imports and, most importantly, contribute to efforts to promote a circular plastics economy. This more circular approach can sizably shrink the carbon footprint of the large UK homewares industry and in doing so, help the UK reach its net zero carbon goals,” adds said Dr George Fern, who leads Brunel’s Wolfson Centre for Sustainable Materials Development and Processing. In addition, a partnership was struck with
Biffa to create the ReBorn range. The waste collected from around the UK – which mostly consist of wasted food packaging collected from Britain’s factories – are repurposed in ReBorn’s
Wiltshire factory. Every element, from raw materials to packaging, supports local industries and eliminates the carbon footprint associated with international transportation.
Introducing ReBorn The eight-piece range comprises a selection of kitchen sinkside and home storage products with the option of two colourways – dark grey and stone. ReBorn was launched on September 11 exclusively at all John Lewis stores and via the ReBorn website. The decision to opt with the major retailer was part of Walmsley’s ambition to convey the brand’s story. “I’ve worked with John Lewis for many years and I know them very well. They have a very strong ethos and sustainability agenda that this range fits into. Previously, I launched a sustainable brand, which John Lewis stocks, called EKO Home. The launch of the brand initially started the dialogue with John Lewis about the gap in the market. Of course, there is a sustainability agenda but it is also meeting a market
housewareslive.net
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