This database contains a selection of plastic chairs noteworthy for their original form, their innovative use of materials or manufacturing technologies. Entires are limited to chairs where plastic is used to provide support for the sitter i.e., the legs and/or the seat and back of the chair must be made from plastic. Office chairs dependent on metal frames to provide support (for example, Aeron chairs) do not qualify for inclusion. The selection is then somewhat arbitrary but illustrates the major advances in plastics that have been adopted for use across consumer products more generally.
While the database includes examples going back to the first use of plastics to make chair in the late 1930s, the primary focus is on chairs made using recycled plastics or bioplastics (collectively referred to as renewable carbon-based plastics). The tools shown on the left-hand side of the next page can be used to interrogate the database. For example, sort the database by date of manufacture to see a chronological listing or select the Renewable Carbon option to limit the listing to chairs made using recycled plastics or bioplastics. Chairs made from renewable carbon-based materials have been given an Environmentally Responsible Product Rating (ERPR). For details of how this score is calculated see the ERPR Tool page.