In this video interview, Mario Colombo, Sales Manager Southern Europe at Herman Miller, is talking about Herman Miller’s historical approach to sustainability and about the environmentally-friendly and iconic Aeron Chair, which will include ocean-bound plastic going forward. Aeron is already composed of more than 50 percent recycled material; by adding ocean-bound plastic, Herman Miller will divert more than 150 metric tons of plastic from the ecosystem every year.
In this interview, Mario Colombo explains to us how sustainability has always been a part of the company culture, with Herman Miller’s founder, D.J. De Pree, claiming in 1953: “We will be a good corporate neighbour by being a good steward of the environment.”
One of the milestones in terms of sustainability has been the ISO 14001 certification for all of Herman Miller’s facilities in 2003.Including ocean-bound plastics into Herman Miller’s most iconic product clearly represents another important milestone for the companies’ path towards a more sustainable future.
Colombo underlines how the brand’s product design constantly aims to reduce each product’s environmental impact considering its’ whole life cycle: This includes the choice of materials which can be disassembled easily in order to make it recyclable as well as the type of packaging.
Durability is a key aspect as well: The longer the product life cycle, the lower its impact on the environment.
Mario Colombo mentions the Aeron Chair as one of the most representative products of Herman Miller’s sustainable policy: It is 92 percent recyclable. Aeron chairs comprise approximately 53 percent recycled materials. Adding ocean-bound plastics will make the chair even more sustainable.
This record was overcome by the new version, the Aeron Onyx Ultra Matte, standing out for the amount of recycled material increased to 63%. Each Onyx Ultra Matte chair contains up to 1.13 kg of mismanaged plastic waste found near waterways per chair.
Herman Miller is a founding member of NextWave Plastics, a consortium working to develop the first global network of ocean-bound plastic supply chains.
By integrating this transformed plastic into Herman Miller’s products and processes, the company is reducing the volume of plastic waste entering our oceans.
Text by Elena Marzorati
