FÓLK and a car part dealership in Iceland start discussing how to increase the reuse of materials in the car junkyard.
Numbers of circularity feed into this discussion. The global economy is only 7,2% circular, and the number is declining, Iceland is 8,5% circular.
FÓLK recruits design duo Flétta, known for their upcycling design projects, to look for materials in the car part dealership and propose design ideas from materials.
Studio Flétta spend some time at the car part dealership. Pastel hued textiles sitting in the car wrecks catch their eye. They bring only one unexpected idea to FÓLK. To gather the beautiful textiles found in the form of airbags and turn them into cushions.
80% of the environmental impact of a product is decided in the design phase.
It took two years for FÓLK to find steady sources of airbags in big enough quantity to start production. Outer airbags are sourced from local car-junkyards from various countries in Europe, such as Denmark, Iceland and Poland.
After sorting, the airbags are sent off to Kruse Vask a professional cleaning laundry where they use swan certified enzymes as washing detergent and focus on reducing the amount of water.
After cleaning, the airbags are sent to Huset Venture, a socio-economic, non-profit organization dedicated to helping people with mental, physical or social barriers in the workplace.
Airbags are sorted and the more useable ones are used for airbags and the less usable ones are cut into trimming parts for the drawstring tube and inner covers.
The colorful handles are sourced from Paracord.eu in The Netherlands. The rope itself is made of 48 stands double braided nylon and are produced in the EU. This is the only part of the product that is sourced from a non-circular source.
The information label is a textile print, printed on a material made of mix of cotton and polyester. Printed in Denmark.
Inner cushion is made at a factory in Denmark that makes mattresses for caravans, AnnTex. Due to the odd sizes mattresses for caravans have, the factory has a large amount of new waste as cut off pieces which they can shred into smaller pieces. These smaller pieces are part of the filling, mixed together with new waste from another industrial leader in the outdoor wear sector.
66° North is a well known outdoor brand. In their manufacturing process there is leftover powerfill material that cannot be used by them. In their search to reduce waste, they offered FÓLK to use this leftover material for the airbags. The textile around the filling is a non-woven recycled textile.
To everyone's surprise the airbags are pastel colored with colorful emboidery when they emerge from the steering wheel. The Airbag as a product is extremely strong and robust, ideal for the children's room, outdoor use, the yoga studio or the living room.
Each airbag is unique, since the material is upcycled. The color of the airbag and the handle therefore varies, although when ordering, a preferred colour can be stated.
