Tiptoe White Venezia shelf in recycled plastic – 60x20cm

A sustainable approach

TIPTOE’s mission is to make sustainable furniture, well-designed, well-made and build to last. In line with these values, we have spent several months putting together this collection of tables and shelf units in recycled plastic, designed with the future of furniture firmly in mind. There’s still a long way to go, but we firmly believe that our sector, too, must align with new modes of consumption and we want, in our own small way, to start the ball rolling!

A minimalist and surprising shelf

Our aim is to demonstrate that it is possible to design objects in recycled plastic that combine beauty and timeless style as well as being long-lasting. The challenge we faced was to go beyond mere recycling and to create extraordinary items that make us completely forget the previous use of the plastic from which they are made!

The shelf of this white, recycled plastic shelf unit is made from approximately 100 yoghurt pots! This explains the board’s white colouring! The burst of colours, gold and silver, come from label fragments which also give us clues about its previous incarnation! It’s actually a nod to Terrazzo, the celebrated mineral material, also traditionally made from cast-offs of other bits of mineral waste. Each shelf unit is unique and has its own, individual history, that of plastic given a second youth through recycling!

Manufacturing process

The point of this collection was to radically change the initial lifespan of the raw material. To move from a product used for an extremely short, ephemeral period of time (yoghurt pots or packaging) to a worthwhile, solid item! The tables and shelf units in our collection are long-lasting and have been designed to be useful for several generations. It’s a continuous cycle: we transform existing material, which itself can be further recycled when it is no longer useful!

The tabletops of the collection are manufactured using an innovative process. The plastic waste collected is reduced to chippings and then pressed (without any binding agent) so as to form a board. They are specifically designed to fit on to table legs or our wall BRACKETS! The resulting articles are innovative and futuristic items of furniture!