Sustainability
Quality lies at the heart of B&B Italia’s vision: it encapsulates its mission to provide long-lasting value for clients; it represents a commitment to excellence all along the value chain; it drives B&B Italia’s approach to suppliers’ relations, inspired by trust, collaboration, and innovation.
The quest for innovation, research, and excellence provides the foundation for all B&B Italia’s activities, and from the outset these have been linked to our commitment to civil society’s fundamental values: respect for the environment and observance of ethical principles. The determination to pursue these objectives is expressed in our corporate culture, in the relations both with institutions and with the company’s partners all along the chain of production.
The continuous and full implementation of the Quality Management Systems is the key instrument to meet all statutory and regulatory requirements and standards applicable at the Group’s export destinations. B&B Italia’s products meet all relevant legal requirements, including European and US laws and regulations. Across the product life cycle, all categories are assessed with respect to health and safety impacts and in terms of compliance with applicable regulations with the support of leading Italian and international test laboratories.
Over the years, the continuous quest for excellence and innovation, complemented by wholehearted attention to quality and sustainability, has led to enhancing our focus on sustainable products. Thus, in 2019 B&B Italia continued to work on the inclusion of circular economy design principles in our production processes, introducing products characterised by superior recyclability and disassembly properties.
Outdoor collection 2023 - Circularity certificates
B&B Italia was the first company in its category to strive towards developing a range of outdoor furniture aiming to bring the intrinsic qualities of its indoor collections to outdoor designs, replicating an experience outside the home that was previously only possible inside, without compromising on product excellence.
Over 15 years, 13 outstanding international designers have contributed to the creation of more than 40 collections, giving shape to a complete, eclectic range featuring bold, iconic pieces that are able to satisfy the most diverse needs in terms of style and function. Some of these collections have entered the imagination of design enthusiasts and professionals, creating milestones that have become the preferential choice of those in search of beauty. Every designer involved has pushed themself and expressed their individual style to the fullest, creating a unique variety of approaches and solutions.
The B&B Italia Outdoor collection is rooted in values that characterize the distinctive identity and history of B&B Italia. Each collection develops these values, expressing them with equal determination in the indoor and outdoor designs, both in residential and contract projects.
Le Bambole 50th anniversary
Originally designed in 1972, awarded with the Compasso d’Oro in 1979, icon of timeless contemporaneity and one of the most effective expressions of Made in Italy excellence, Le Bambole have provided a very personal answer to the theme of seats. What made them special is the apparent absence of a load bearing structure, the extreme naturalness of the shape, and the combination of comfort, softness and elasticity that their appearance conveys.
Fifty years after their creation, Le Bambole evolve thanks to new design choices that make them even more comfortable and sustainable. Where the original construction was based on a metal structure embedded in polyurethane, now the materials used are of the latest generation, starting from the structure in recycled polyethylene, and elements in polyurethane foam and thermoplastic elastomers that are added to shape the geometry and define comfort and breathability, all sheathed by an undercover derived from recycled PET.
A sustainable project which combines exceptional quality and durability contents, typical of B&B Italia’s products, with choices of materials and construction method that allow the components of Le Bambole to be completely disassembled and therefore easily recyclable. Features that allow for the achievement of important circularity goals: 81% for the Bambola armchair and the Bibambola sofa, 80% for the Granbambola sofa.
BOREA by Piero Lissoni: sustainability, innovation & design
We often think of design objects as products of a designer’s brilliant mind and the skilled hands of those who make them. We are aware that objects are part of a cycle, our lives and the environment.
B&B Italia works constantly to develop projects that increasingly consider the product’s entire life cycle, which starts from the designer’s idea, passes through the choice of materials and production, and ends with the user’s experience. But right from the start it looks ahead to the life cycle’s end, and the recovery and disposal of the materials that make up the product.
In this perspective, Borea is an eco-design collection with exceptional design, comfort, durability and circularity features. It uses recycled and recyclable materials, which can be separated so that, at the end of its life cycle, depending on the material, each individual element can be recovered or disposed of properly.
The circular economy thus becomes a sustainability paradigm - it is not an abstract philosophy, but a new concept for the design of industrial processes.
Sofas, armchairs, dining chairs
The starting point of the seating collection are lightweight tubular aluminium structures that combine a fluid, continuous design with functionality and sustainability. Aluminium is a sustainable choice because it is extremely strong and durable and entirely and easily recyclable, thus infinitely reusable to create new products every time. Aluminium’s lightness combined with a well thought-out design allows the structures to be easily stacked so that they can be stored during winter in the smallest space. It is possible to stack up to three armchairs, three two-seater sofas, three three-seater sofas and six dining chairs.
The cushions are designed with sustainability in mind. They are made of polyester fibre obtained from recycled PET plastic bottles. Recycling 1 kg of PET produces 930 g of new material, a fibre with exceptional softness, elasticity and durability, which is entirely sustainable and circular as it is fully recycled and recyclable. The recycled polyester fibre is used for the upholstery, its covers’ waterproof canvas and the yarn used for the stitching and zips. The seat cushion is completed by a polyurethane section with differentiated density to increase its support capacity. At the end of the product’s life cycle, this section can be easily separated and disposed of. 280 1500 ml plastic bottles are used to create the upholstery for an armchair, 390 for a two-seater sofa, 510 for a three-seater sofa.
From recycled plastic to Borea’s new eco-material: the six processing steps
01 - Collection: Used plastic bottles are collected and directed to the most suitable recovery treatment.
02 – Sorting: The bottles are sorted and washed to remove impurities, labels and glue residues. They are arranged by polymer type and colour and prepared for the next steps.
03 - Grinding and processing: The bottles are ground and flaked. This process produces PET granules which are depolymerised into their original components and converted into a new raw material (polyester).
04 - New material: This fully recycled material is then extruded, drawn, carded to become microfibre and textured to become yarn.
05 - Processing: The products obtained from the PET recycling chain were used by B&B Italia for Borea’s upholstery, its covers’ fabric, sewing yarn, and the product’s identification labels.
06 - New product: The result is an eco-design product with exceptional performance, cutting-edge and environmentally friendly.
Tables
The attention on the use of innovative recycled materials can be seen in the enamelled lava stone tops used for the tables. The stone, extracted from quarries on the Etna slopes, is handcrafted by repeating the melting process of the raw material. Using a special furnace that reaches a temperature of about 1300° C, the stone is brought back to its original magma stage, and large slabs are made into the tiles that make up the tops. The surface is then glazed using an exclusive production process that uses a special “eco glass recycled” material obtained by crushing and grinding the glass from discarded monitors and PCs.
Camaleonda 2020
The system designed in 1970, makes its comeback 50 years later, speaking a contemporary language, between structural solutions and sustainable choices.
The “sandwich” structure of Camaleonda is made up of recycled or recyclable materials that can be easily disassembled. The seat, backrest and armrests and bases are made of FSC® (Forest Stewardship Council) wooden panels. The sofa rests on the floor on a series of spherical feet are also made of FSC® certified beech wood.
The padding of the seat, the backrests and the armrests are made of polyurethane in various levels of density and firmness. The highest degree of complexity lies in the seat, where elements are shaped and assembled to allow every layer to interact, at the same time guaranteeing a high level of comfort. The various layers generate empty spaces or pockets designed to create a comfortable spring effect. The engineering and composition of the seat allows the interior elements of the sofa to be disassembled and therefore easily recyclable.
The padding is protected by a removable cover made of a recycled polyester fabric that is entirely made of recycled PET, the same material used to manufacture plastic water bottles.
