A manufacturing industry without waste. That it is possible is proven by the joint brand NeverEnding Furniture by plastics manufacturer Nedcam and circular office designer Triboo. For Nedcam, whose main activity is making moulds for parts of wind turbines and yachts, it is an important learning experience to also make its other activities more sustainable. "There is a lot of waste in our industry," says Nedcam director Erwin van Maaren, who would like to see this change. "We only use our moulds for a short period and then throw them away. Most are made of thermosets, plastics that remain hard when heated, so they cannot be recycled." In his search for a more sustainable production process, Van Maaren soon arrived at 3D printers that work with so-called thermoplastics that can later be melted down, and thus reused as raw materials.

The production hall in Heerenveen now houses one large 3D printer that is used to produce small moulds for yacht building, among other things. Van Maaren: "The printer was not yet running day and night, so I went to see what else we could do with our printers. I came across the company Triboo on social media and it immediately appealed to me."

Starting

For Triboo founder Marc van der Heijden, Nedcam was not the first company to contact him. "Many companies want to make a sustainability step, but don't know where to start. I show which practical applications you can make from waste." He shows a transparent piece of table top: "Made from CD sleeves. And it's made from the CDs themselves," he points to the silver one next to it. In his office cum showroom there are also two small dining tables. "Made entirely from McDonald's cups and packaging material. We have been working on this for a year and a half. The intention is to equip all the branches with these tables. Furniture from your own waste, wonderful," he enthuses. With Triboo, Van der Heijden investigates which techniques can be used to turn waste into furniture. He then looks for parties who can produce it. His biggest cooperation partner is kitchen worktop manufacturer Dekker from Zevenhuizen. Triboo's office is also on the family business' premises. "We use the sustainable Greengridz sheet material from Dekker for our table tops," he says. Greengridz consists of two thin sheets with an open grid structure in between. This requires much less material than chipboard. "Less material does not only mean less CO2 emissions. Material that you don't use, you don't have to reuse." The material that the NeverEnding Furniture line is made up of can be reused in perpetuity. "When handing in these items, we therefore pay customers a raw material price," Van der Heijden says. Currently, the 3D printers in Heerenveen are producing flower pots in the shape of a tulip and flower boxes in the shape of a bean, among other things, for the NeverEnding Furniture line. "Dutch Design," says Van Maaren proudly. "Designed in-house by employees who have studied industrial product design." By printing the circular furniture accessories, NedCam is gaining a lot of knowledge about both materials, curing time, software and hardware. "All this knowledge we will soon be able to use when we also start manufacturing our large moulds with 3D printing techniques." Triboo ensures that the products end up with large companies. In the first quarter of this year, Van der Heijden delivered 1500 circular workstations to a large company. "I focus on high volume contracts, because that's the only way you can make an impact." Industry without waste Triboo founder Marc van der Heijden at the Greengridz sheets with open grid structure. PHOTO SERGE LIGTENBERG 3D-printered office furniture as a learning experience Nedcam director Erwin van Maaren at the 3D-printer that will also be used for large industrial moulds in the future.

Tables at McDonald's made of cups and boxes'.

Showing practical applications'

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