The Coca-Cola Company and Emeco, a leading furniture manufacturer, have combined their iconic products, the Coca-Cola contour bottle and the famous 1006 Navy Chair, to create a new chair made from at least 111 recycled plastic bottles. Design Within Reach (DWR) has announced it will be the exclusive retailer of the 111 Navy Chair in the United States.
Modeled after the original aluminum Emeco 1006 Navy Chair (#1006) that Emeco designed in 1944 for the U.S. Navy, each 111 Navy Chair contains a mix of 60 percent rPET plastic (recycled polyethylene terephthalate) and a special combination of other materials including pigment and glass fiber for strength. It is estimated that more than three million PET plastic bottles will be repurposed annually for the production of 111 Navy Chairs.
“Modern design enthusiasts expect the world from DWR, so we’re thrilled to partner with Coke and Emeco to launch the 111 Navy Chair, which is destined to be an icon” said Design Within Reach CEO and president John Edelman. “The chair’s ground-breaking material also speaks to DWR’s passion for a healthy environment.”
“When Coca-Cola approached me with this project, I jumped on it,” said Gregg Buchbinder, chairman of Emeco. “Although reengineering a core product is a significant investment for us, I was excited about the impact of reusing the PET from about three million plastic bottles a year. That’s a lot of bottles and a lot of chairs. The new chair is the strongest, and most beautiful we can make. We’ve turned something many people throw away into something you want and can keep for a long, long time.”
111 Navy Chairs are produced in six colors: Coca-Cola Red, Snow, Flint, Grass, Persimmon and Charcoal. In the United States, chairs will be available exclusively from Design Within Reach in their retail Studios nationwide, online at www.dwr.com and by calling 1.800.944.2233 in early in May. The 111 Navy Chair will retail for $230, about half the price of Emeco’s aluminum 1006 Navy Chair.
In celebration of the launch, the website www.111navychair.com will launch May 1 to house the “111 Navy Chair Project.” The Coca-Cola Company, DWR and Emeco will send 111 chairs out to a variety of influential designers, celebrities and artists for comment and will release the responses in campaigns throughout 2010.