A seat pad made from recycled textile fibers for Lindström - from experiment to top product
The world's first seat pad made from recycled textiles
The Kurkela seat pad is made of two different layers of removable textile felt, between which we laminated a thin waterproof film. Together with our partner Ykkösmuovi, we made dies and a special tool with which we created the grooves, or folds, in the seat pad.
Ykkösmuovi Oy, located in Suomusjärvi, specializes in the production and printing of office supplies. We supplied them with laminated felt blanks and they finished the products. Lindström's corporate logo was finally screen-printed on the product in Ykkösmuovi's own printing house. We had previously jointly developed Marabu's environmentally friendly colors based on screen-printing technology for felt.
The work required practice and experimentation, as well as taking risks. However, we were confident that together with the staff at Ykkösmuovi, we could combine our expertise in thermoplastics and recycled textile fibers and achieve our goal. The product turned out exactly as planned.
Waste textile fibers are a huge resource
Rester Oy extracts the fibers we use from recycled textiles. The felt for these seat pads is therefore workwear that has been recycled at Lindström. Workwear is a particularly good source of fiber because its fiber composition is clear and it can also be easily sorted by color.
One of the largest sources of fiber is hospital textiles, and the colors can be used to determine the type of work tasks the work clothes have been used for. Lindström is one of the investors in Rester, and both companies are utilizing discarded textiles as a resource based on the principles of the circular economy. Lindström's business is entirely based on the circular economy, and the company strengthens its customers' goals in terms of the environment and responsibility.
Lindstrom Ltd.
One of Europe's leading textile services companies with over 175 years of experience in the textile industry. We offer solutions for office cleanliness and decoration, workwear and protection, and through our subsidiary Comforta, textile services for hotels and healthcare. We operate in 23 countries, in Europe and Asia.
Ykkösmuovi Oy
Ykkösmuovi Oy is a manufacturer and printing house of traditional office supplies. We manufacture products for sale on a B2B basis, i.e. from business to business.
Rester Ltd.
Rester is a Nordic company that offers textile recycling solutions and enables the recovery of textiles into new textile fibers and high-quality raw materials. Rester is also a leading pioneer in building value chains for textile utilization. We act as a bridge between different sectors in developing the textile circular economy. Our customers are companies that use textiles and manufacture end-of-life textiles, as well as companies that can use Rester recycled fiber in their production or products.
Vilikkala Tradehouse Oy
The world is full of beautiful bags and storage baskets. Ours was created to make your everyday storage needs easier in an aesthetic way. Our goal is to use local recycled materials and find the best cycle for each product through our inventive materials and pioneering partnerships.
We offer textile services to companies that need customized textile processing from our stock materials, our own fabrics or leathers. We process two-component felt using heat and pressure on our textile line, and we cut roll products according to the customer's needs.
Vilikkala was founded in 2014 in Salo, in the village of Vilikkala. The company is part of Rester Oy's network of used textiles. The company is owned by Jari Toivonen and Hannu Tuomola.
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