What they say:

• They are the only UK manufacturer whose kitchen furniture (cabinet) carcasses use 90-100% post consumer waste timber.  New wood is FSC certified.
• They use a Biomass waste recycling plant for heat (and power in the future) and have invested in machinery that converts scrap kitchens (from people’s homes) into briquettes usable in wood firing boilers.
• Their delivery process minimizes (and, if the photos are an indication, reuses) cardboard packaging.
• The meet ISO 9000 standards for quality management systems.

What I say:

They have some great eco-credential:

• Using post-consumer waste is better than post-industrial waste (which hasn’t had a previous life as a product). 
• They seem to have a real commitment for reducing landfilled waste. 
• They have a published environmental policy.
• Their literature included a certificate of “low formaldehyde emissions” implying their product minimizes added formadlehyde and it’s associated impact on indoor air quality.

I’d like to see more information about their products from a life cycle perspective. For example:

• Where do the raw materials (e.g., recycled and new wood, veneers) come from?  What kind of transportation miles do they have?
• Do they have a programme to reclaim their kitchen furniture from homes once it’s life is complete? 
• When old kitchen furniture is broken down into briquettes, does that mean that the melamine is burned as well? Does that release any pollutants/toxins of concern?

The display I saw at the EcoBuild show was topped with georgeous recycled glass worktops by GLASSeco, which are also mentioned in their catalog. Why aren’t more eco-friendly worktops on the website?  Their catalog also states that FSC wood is used for the handles, but what about the metal?

Their environmental policy states ”Although the Company’s system does not fully comply with the requirements of ISO 14001, it complies with the essentials.”  What would it take for them to meet ISO 14001?

Overall, Chamois seems to have some strong green credentials and the product really did look fantastic at EcoBuild.

Photo from http://www.chamois.co.uk/.

What they say:

“GLASSeco Limited operates from a 10,000sq ft eco factory in Greater London which diverts 5 tonnes of glass every month from the waste-stream.  The new site has been purposely-designed with a tiny carbon footprint: it uses minimal electricity, all water is recycled and, most importantly, we don’t create any waste.

GLASSeco is a genuinely low-carbon product, proudly manufactured in the UK, created entirely from waste materials that were destined for landfill.”

If you like to see how things are made, GLASSeco has a film here for you.

What I say:

It’s great that they can achieve such a high level of recycled glass content, but what’s the other 5+%?  My literature says the binder is “non-emitting epoxy resin binder.”  So, would that be petrochemical based, then?   

Where is all the glass from?  How much is post consumer vs. industrial recycled content?  GLASSeco also uses TV/computer screen glass through NuLifeGlass which is very cool because it means greater opportunity for such electronics to be recycled.  (Unfortunately such sources mean there’s a slight risk of lead leaching, although the levels are very low…see technical specs for details.)

It seems that it is manufactured in London which, for London consumers, means almost no transportation miles – yeah!

Do they offer an end-of-life reclamation programme?  If not, presumably the product would be land-filled (if no other use is found for it)?

I’ll do more on granite at some point in the future, but here I’ll just second GLASSeco’s reference to the labor situation in granite quarries in India in this BBC report.

The final analysis: I’m with Kevin McCloud in loving this material.

Photo from http://www.glasseco.co.uk.

There was one interesting find.  Bottle Alley Glass offers glass products (tiles, worktops, lighting, etc) “made totally from glass recovered from household and commercial waste.”   

It seems that it has taken a while for recycled glass production to get to the point of producing sheet glass that can be used on worktops/countertops, so I find this to be a very exciting development.  The product is beautiful and has many application possibilities.

What they say:

“Glass makes up around 7% of the average household dustbin and in 2001 over 2.5 million tonnes of this material was landfilled…. Glass is unique in that it can be recycled indefinitely without loss of quality.…Making glass creates gas and CO2, but recycling glass into new products has several environmental benefits:

• Energy saving
• Lower emissions
• Reduced landfill
• Less quarrying

If recycled glass is used to make new bottle and jars, the energy needed in the furnace is greatly reduced. After accounting for the transport and processing needed, 315kg of CO2 is saved per tonne of glass melted.  Recycling two bottles saves enough energy to boil water for five cups of tea.”

What I wonder:

This product has some strong eco credentials.  However, to have a better understanding of the product’s life cycle, some more information would be helpful.  For example, what transportation is involved in sourcing the raw materials (recycled glass)?  The offices are in the UK (East Sussex).  Is the manufacturing plant in the same location?  I suspect it is, which would make this a local product (to London and England).  It could be even more eco if green energy is used; maybe it is but I couldn’t find anything on their website about that.  Finally, what happens when the product has finished its life? It presumably can’t be recycled with household recycling waste.  Will the company take back the glass to be reused?