Recyclable Kitchen by Valcucine
Going green does not have to be quite so literal, but this eco-friendly kitchen design seems to look even smoother and more stylish in a combination of black and forest colors. The idea behind this built-in counter-and-fixtures set is to use minimal materials that can easily be recycled while still catering to modern minimalist aesthetics (and thus appeal to luxury clients looking to remodel their kitchen spaces).
Drawers and walls are made of ultra-thin materials in order to use fewer resources and no glue is used in the assembly process – this minimalism is not merely a design choice but also a sustainable strategy, perhaps a harbinger of more high-end (but still eco-friendly) kitchen design strategies and layout ideas yet to come. Though it looks great in green, there are other color options for this recycled kitchen at Valcucine.
“Valcucine has created an innovative structure with glass base units which, eliminating the second side panel, also in glass, gives the arrangement such a clean and lightweight appearance that it looks almost ethereal. The decreased volumes imply less waste of resources and energy while the exclusive use of glass guarantees full recyclability of the unit, eliminating toxic emissions, as well as absolute resistance to water, steam and heat.”
“Valcucine’s kitchen with Invitrum base units has been designed in the pursuit of eco-sustainability, which does not just mean recyclability or “made from recycled materials”. Rather, it means respecting the four main fundamentals of eco-compatibility.
1) Durability so that the consumption of raw materials and energy required to supply the same item again is postponed to the far future. The Invitrum base units’ system is practically indestructible; it does not swell with water and does not become unglued due to heat.
2) The project must be as dematerialised as possible to consume less raw materials and energy. The Invitrum base units’ system replaces double side panels that are normally 18+18 mm (total of 36mm) with a single, 10mm glass panel.
3) Reduction of toxic emissions: Invitrum abolishes all uses of glues because it is assembled by means of mechanical joints only; this results in zero emissions of formaldehyde. Moreover, the use of an inert material such as glass cancels any toxic emissions.
4) Make the product as recyclable as possible: this does not mean using only recyclable materials or, better still, recycled and recyclable materials but also that the various materials used are easy to identify and separate; e.g. if two different recyclable materials are glued together it becomes difficult to reutilise them.
“The Invitrum base units’ system uses only mechanical joints that make the product easy to dismantle, to the extent that we are making arrangements to pick up obsolete kitchens, that we will then recycle, free of charge. The use of recycled, rather than primary, material is part of Valcucine’s research that, for the time being, has been expressed by using secondary aluminium. We are also testing a recycled material for base unit back panels obtained by recycling food packaging (Tetra Pak).”
