For the latest issue of Bioplastics Magazine, I wrote an article looking at the chairs made from bioplastics or natural fibres from the 60 chairs examined in my book Rethinking Plastics in Product Design. I examine six designs with the cantilevered, monobloc Hemp Chair designed by German designer Werner Aisslinger, achieving the highest rating among these chairs, with a score of 14 out of 20. Chairs made using bioplastics failed to achieve impressive scores in my analysis as they tended to be bulky designs, consuming more energy during manufacture and transportation, and creating bigger end-of-life impacts.
Geoff Isaac, PhD . Plastics in design specialist and author of Featherston monograph