Wishbone Studio Design won in the new 'Going Circular' category at last night's NZI Sustainable Business Network Awards with a children's bike entirely made of recycled carpet.
Photo: Supplied
In the emerging field of 'circular economy', resources are re-used continuously. Wishbone's Jennifer McIver tells Jesse Mulligan the circular economy turns our current model on its head.
"It's easier to describe in contrast to what we've been running until now. A make, take and waste economy. A linear economy when we use raw materials, turn them into something and use them up.
"Circular takes a material and recycles into some other good, but it goes way beyond that."
The Wellington design studio wants to keep their materials at the "highest utility level" she says.
"Right from the get-go, we plan that in."
The raw material is nylon carpets.
"We take carpets from houses, nylon carpets, we get the nylon and the polypropylene from the carpet and we recycled it and turn it into little bikes for children."
Wishbone partnered up with a like-minded company to extract the plastic from the old carpets – which was quite a tricky process, she says.
"It's really hard, we don't do that, so one of the great things about the circular economy is that you would partner up with like-minded folk. We've found partners who have done ten years of R&D and they have figured out how to do it."
The concept is making a big difference, she says.
"We try to deliver that to the world on a scale that really makes a difference. So thousands of tonnes of carpet has been saved from the landfill.
"The idea is we take as little material as we can and get as much value from it."
The bikes are designed to last, be handed down, repaired or sold second-hand.
"The toy industry is not known for sustainability so our idea is to make products which can influence others."
Wishbone have sold tens of thousands of the bikes, which are available in 40 countries, McIver says.
