LifestyleGarden® has launched its new-for-2022 Nassau Social Plastic® Collection – exclusively designed in partnership with Plastic Bank® at SOLEX 2021. The new range consisting of rainbow-bright mix and match chairs, bistro, and dining sets, is made exclusively from Social Plastic® – ethically-recovered plastic that helps fight ocean pollution by improving the lives of those who collect it.
Back in 2019, LifestyleGarden® shook up the outdoor furniture market with the launch of its DuraOcean® chair. Made from 3.5kgs of recycled maritime waste including nets and rope, the DuraOcean® scooped the SOLEX Best New Product award and generated an important and much-needed conversation around our reliance on plastic and the impact plastic waste has on our planet. At SOLEX 2021, LifestyleGarden® returns to the exhibition with the exciting next chapter for responsible material innovation – Social Plastic®.
Plastic Bank builds ethical recycling ecosystems in vulnerable coastal communities and reprocesses the materials for reintroduction into the global manufacturing supply chain. The company empowers disadvantaged communities and helps them to transcend inequality by providing an opportunity to collect and monetize plastic waste.
Collectors in Plastic Bank’s ecosystems receive a premium for the materials they collect, which helps them provide basic family necessities such as groceries, school tuition, internet access, health insurance, and cooking fuel. The collected plastic waste is washed, flaked, and goes through a recycling process, where they are then pelletized and integrated into products and packaging as part of a closed-loop supply chain. It is these pellets that LifestyleGarden® will now use exclusively for its Nassau Social Plastic® Collection.
Paul Cohen, Sales Director at LifestyleGarden® said: “Our company-wide motto has always been ‘Doing Business the Right Way” and this has been ingrained in all that we do. Our new Social Plastic® offering, however, feels the culmination of everything we have worked towards. The positive impact of this material innovation has not been seen before within our industry and we strongly believe that it will change the way that people shop as they look to support brands that showcase visibility regarding their impact and supply chain. Social responsibility has never been so prominent, and we are dedicated to playing our part with Social Plastic® being the start of our story.”
Every Nassau chair will be made from the equivalent of 175 recycled plastic bottles, with each chair directly contributing to communities in locations such as the Philippines, Indonesia, and Haiti. Recognizing the popularity of this range and the value that Social Plastic® will have within the retail setting, LifestyleGarden® has set a target of five million plastic bottles to be recycled through its Social Plastic® range in 2022.
Using Plastic Bank’s Alchemy™ blockchain platform which secures the entire transaction and provides real-time data visualisation, LifestyleGarden® is able to track the lifecycle of every Social Plastic® product. This information can be shared with its retail customers and consumers to help paint a detailed picture of the plastic crisis and how little steps can make a huge difference to vulnerable communities as well as the planet. From the names of the collectors, to how their lives have changed as a result of their work with Plastic Bank, this is material with a real soul and the ability to change lives.
