Table made from Eucalyptus Wood and Recycled Yoghurt Pot for Adaptable Office Settings

FDT Bureau

Another Country recently introduced the Work Series II table, a sustainable solution for adaptable office settings that blends wood and recycled plastic. This table showcases a eucalyptus wood frame and a tabletop made entirely from recycled yoghurt pot materials produced by Smile Plastics, a Welsh manufacturer. Know more about it on FURNITURE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY (FDT).

The resulting material resembles terrazzo, with metallic accents added by flecks from foil lids. Another Country’s in-house design team aimed to create a workspace table that aligned with eco-friendly values – utilizing recycled and renewable materials, leaving a minimal carbon footprint, emitting no harmful VOCs, and facilitating easy disassembly and recycling in the future.

This endeavour led the brand, which usually employs natural materials like wood, to venture into plastic for the first time. The Work Series II table’s detachable, recyclable tops provide a unique approach: after several years, when office furniture might be discarded, the tops can be swapped out to refresh the furniture’s appearance while retaining the frames. Smile Plastics would repurchase the tops for recycling into new products. Additionally, the utilization of eucalyptus wood – a fast-growing and abundant timber in Portugal, where Another Country manufactures – seeks to alleviate the strain on popular, dwindling timber varieties.

Despite the challenges posed by the different material behaviours and the relative instability of eucalyptus compared to other hardwoods, Another Country innovatively devised adjustable connections to achieve flush surfaces between the materials. The Work Series II table’s construction employs formaldehyde-free glue and is coated with VOC-free, plant-based finishes.

Image credit: Another Country