Sprout and PLI go Green with Playstation chair

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has come up with an inventive way to reuse discarded Playstation consoles, as a result of collaboration with furniture manufacturer PLI Design and sustainable consultancy Sprout Design.

A stackable chair called Recycled Plastic Chair Number Two, or RPC2, designed by Sprout, uses post-consumer polycarbonate plastic found in PS consoles as its main component. It launches on 10 May

PLI founder Christopher Pett explains he had the idea after meeting SCEE’s environmental manager at a supplier conference in early 2006.

‘Sony’s problem was that under the EU’s [waste electrical and electronic equipment] directive, it needed to find a market for post-consumer waste plastic from its PS consoles. At the same time, Cockermouth Secondary School in Cumbria approached me about making furniture that would match the eco creden- tials of its newly built school,’ explains Pett.

He approached Sprout to help him design a product around the properties of polycarbonate ABS. Sprout devised an injection-moulded slat that could be repeated to create a strong, flexible structure when clipped on to a metal frame.

Pett is working on a royalty-plus-fee basis with Sprout, which will give the design consultancy an interest in the growth, development and promotion of the product. ‘It’s hard to find a good designer, let alone to keep them involved,’ he says.

RPC2 is expected to retail at £99. Future plans include further development of the RPC2 to create an office task chair.