Chair dance

Industrial 3d-printing technology for chair life extension and waste reduction

Old chairs disappear en masse into landfill, when they could just be very interesting as raw materials for new materials or offer parts for repairs. That is why the Chair Dance project is leveraging industrial 3D printing technology to extend the lifespan of chairs.

By using residual streams to design new 3D-printed chairs that can be easily refurbished or repaired, this project can address two problems: local raw materials remain affordable and the supply of residual streams gets a new use. By choosing local residual streams and focusing on social employment, the footprint of products remains limited. Parts of discarded chairs are also used to make new, high-quality furniture. Combined with 3D printing, this is the perfect basis to easily and affordably develop beautiful, reusable, long-life products.

This partnership of Surplace, SURA, Studio Achoo, De Kringloopwinkel and Fis Robotics will produce two demonstration cases: two chairs developed based on 3D printing. The course of these cases will serve as a learning lesson and inspiration for the wider manufacturing industry.

This project started in October 2022 and, with the support of VLAIO and Flanders Circular, will run until April 2024. More information can be found at https://www.sura-impact.be/post/stoelendans-of-hoe-3d-printtechnologie-de-levensduur-van-stoelen-kan-verlengen .