Mater: Making furniture of waste materials with Matek®
Matek® is a unique patented material developed by Danish design brand Mater that enables them to make furniture of waste materials. Matek® can be processed again and again and recycled into new furniture.
Making furniture of waste materials with Matek®
Through years of research and testing, Mater invented Matek®.
The uniquely patented materials enable them to make furniture of waste materials by combining fibre with a binder. Coffee bean shells, extracted during the roasting process, are an example of fibre material. Sawdust from wood production is another. The binder material is made from plastic waste or a plastic-based alternative. The mix of materials results in a unique compound suitable for press moulding - a well-known technique in the furniture industry.
The technology behind Matek® allows Mater to capture carbon in their furniture by recycling waste into timeless classics using resources already available to them, instead of virgin materials. To produce Matek®, they either use post-consumer waste or post-industrial waste available to them through successful collaborations with large-scale corporations. Mater help process their waste streams and make them suitable for furniture production – beneficial to themselves and others.
Since Matek® can be processed again and again, they unhesitatingly offer to take the furniture back at the end of its life to recycle it into new furniture. The technology allows Mater to recycle waste with more efficiency, helping them reduce the world's CO2 emissions.
About Mater
Founded in Copenhagen in 2006, Mater is a pioneering green-tech design brand with sustainability and circularity at its core.
From the outset, Mater’s ambition was to inspire a global design audience and engage people in sustainable thinking. Mater uses cutting-edge technology in production allowing the brand to transform waste materials into furniture. Through collaboration with well-established and new design talents, Mater creates timeless designs in a sustainable and responsible way.
As a company, Mater will never stand still. Mater is continuously committed to finding and developing new waste materials and techniques that allow the brand to create more from less. The future of the planet relies on circular solutions and green innovations, and that’s what Mater works for.