Research on Sustainable Furniture Design Based on Waste Textiles Recycling

Yaolin Wang, Chenyang Liu, Xi Zhang and Shaoting Zeng ()
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Yaolin Wang: Kingston School of Art, Kingston University, Surrey KT1 2QJ, UK
Chenyang Liu: Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Xi Zhang: Department of Industrial Design, Hanyang University ERICA Campus, Ansan 15588, Republic of Korea
Shaoting Zeng: College of Art and Design, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 4, 1-18

Abstract: As people’s living standards rise, textile waste becomes more significant, and the number of waste textiles grows swiftly, wreaking havoc on the earth’s ecosystem. Simultaneously, the creation of furniture consumes a significant amount of wood. The paint and adhesive used to manufacture it are also unsustainable and harmful to human beings. Therefore, one of the most urgent environmental challenges that needs to be paid attention to at present is the recycling of waste textiles and the sustainable recycling of furniture. Given this situation, this study proposes a solution combining sustainable design with composite material manufacturing. Guided by this solution, this study obtained a waste textile-starch composite material combining waste textiles, starch, and other components using microwave expansion technology. The material is biodegradable, environmentally friendly, and non-polluting. It can be customized to meet different design needs. Then, this research applies the material to sustainable furniture design and obtains a set of design works with sustainable characteristics. This kind of sustainable design scheme can eliminate the pollution and waste of waste textiles. At the same time, waste textile-starch composites can also serve as an economical and environmentally friendly alternative to many synthetic and natural materials used in furniture design and manufacturing. This reform scheme has a tremendous sustainable development promise and can simultaneously handle the problems of waste textile pollution and furniture resources.

Keywords: starch; waste textiles; furniture design; microwave expansion; material research and design applications; sustainable (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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