Willem Straat, founder and co-owner of furniture rental company KeyPro: “Fundamentally, renting out furniture is already circular; our pieces of furniture are always given a new destination. With the extra option of renting circular furniture, we are taking it to the next level.” Circularity is already known in the business sector, such as hotels and offices, but not yet behind the front door in people’s homes. “We want to bring circularity to the living room. Making people conscious of the fact that waste can also be a raw material for new applications and that products can be reused.”
We help, among others, (international) companies with the design of temporary housing for employees, but also housing associations with temporary housing for residents during renovation work in sustainability projects. According to Straat, there is already enough production and this (over)production is at the expense of people and the environment. “That’s why our new CircularLiving label only consists of furniture produced from recycled and/or recyclable materials.”
To kick off, KeyPro has set up a concept room in the Experience Center, located next to the head office, of Jacobs Douwe Egberts Professional in Utrecht. Here the business market can get acquainted with the different coffee options and the sustainability vision of the coffee brand. Bas Anneveldt, co-owner of KeyPro: “Many companies are fully engaged in circularity. The Netherlands wants to be a circular economy by 2050. An economy without waste, where everything runs on reusable raw materials. By 2030 we will already have to use 50% less primary raw materials – minerals, metals and fossils. That is why we want to make companies enthusiastic about continuing the current circular transition from workplace to the living room. The business community can be an important link in this. The ultimate goal is to create more awareness in people’s homes.”
Anneveldt: “The market has not yet reached the point where there is a lot of circular offer. So it is mainly a lot of pioneering. As KeyPro we want to be a connector between circular interior brands and customers.” From major established Dutch brands such as Auping (developer and producer of the world’s first fully circular mattress) to more niche design labels such as Amsterdam Occony (furniture made from waste paper), Donar (armchairs made from recycled bottles) and Walra (home textiles made from 100% recycled cotton and PET bottles). Supplemented with circular home accessories, such as table lamps made of recycled and recyclable glass and candlesticks made of residual materials from old school chairs. Anneveldt: “Auping and Occony offer the option of taking back the products after their technical lifespan, so the raw materials can be reused. This ensures we keep the entire production chain closed; a circular economy.”