Plastic Whale by Vepa

Plastic soup

Plastic waste is increasingly polluting the waters of the world, with disastrous consequences. No less than 80% of all the waste in the ocean is made from plastic. More than 8 billion kilos annually.

Animals living in and near water get trapped in plastic waste or choke on it. On top of that, plastic breaks down into very small particles that are ingested by fish and other organisms such as mussels and oysters. These particles become part of the food chain and end up on our plate.

High time to take our responsibility and do something about it. That’s why we launched Plastic Whale by Vepa together with Plastic Whale so we can fight the plastic soup together.

Creating value from waste

What’s so special about the collection is that the most important resource for the furniture is fished up from the canals by Plastic Whale itself. More than 150.000 PET bottles to date have been fished up and are being recycled into new products.

We create economical value from plastic waste with the engagement of as many people as possible. More than 20.000 people form all over the world went plastic fishing. The PET bottles we fish from the canals are washed and shredded to create PET foam and PET felt.

The PET foam is used for, among other things, high-quality design Plastic Whale sloops that are also used for fishing and the PET felt is used in various applications for our joint furniture collection. But not only other people’s waste, we also incorporate residual materials from our own factory, like the base of the Whale Tail Chair which is made from our own steel waste.

Inspiration

LAMA concept designed this collection which is inspired by the whale. Yvonne Laurijsen, co-owner of LAMA concept: “Plastic soup is one of the biggest threats facing this fascinating animal. Distinguishing elements of the whale have been incorporated into the designs, such as the look and feel of the characteristic skin, the fat tissue and the impressive skeleton.”