this is briket, a recyclable stool made entirely from potatoes and sawdust

Repurposing scraps like potato and sawdust 

Renaud Defrancesco creates Briket, a recyclable stool that emerges entirely from potato and sawdust scraps. It debuted at Salone del Mobile 2024 where the Swiss designer exhibited its raw materiality and robustness by sitting and even standing on the stable stool. He was inspired by the production of pellets. In fact, the Briket stool can be fully recycled through fire to warm up a space or room during cold seasons.

The nine-leg stool came out of Renaud Defrancesco’s experimental research on different waste in the local industries. This is his attempt to recover and repurpose these discarded byproducts and objects into functional objects. Briket isn’t also a one-man team. The Swiss designer collaborated with designer Anne Bertoncini in running around 30 tests for the Briket stool to make sure that combining potato and sawdust scraps would be feasible and could produce a sturdy, recyclable stool. 

images courtesy of Renaud Defrancesco

Renaud Defrancesco Briket stoll from scraps

To produce the recyclable Briket stool, the sawdust scraps and wood waste are compressed with potatoes. Renaud Defrancesco says they’re another ingredient produced in excess by the food industry. Rather than applying paint or other design features onto the stool, the Swiss designer leaves it bare and raw, opting to showcase the natural materiality of the original ingredients that make up the stool. 

For those who are interested in owning their own recyclable Briket stool, Renaud Defrancesco says that it can be produced directly where wood waste is abundant, such as in sawmills, carpentry shops, and workshops dealing with large quantities of wood. ‘All it takes is a press to manufacture the stools on-site, giving wood waste a second life before its third and final use as fuel,’ he says.

the recyclable Briket stool is sturdy enough for people to stand on

Showcased at salone del mobile 2024

For Renaud Defrancesco, waste such as potatoes and sawdust scraps can be given a second life as recyclable furniture, doubling as firewood. As of publishing the story, the recyclable Briket stool graced the Salone del Mobile 2024 for the first time in the OUT OF THE WOODWORKS exhibition that the Swiss design gallery NOV showcased. The series of projects presented aimed to highlight and appreciate the value and current role of wood in the material world. The exhibition took place in the ‘House of Switzerland’ show that Pro Helvetia Design organized. 

Briket is a recyclable stool that emerges entirely from potato and sawdust scraps

the stool can double as firewood

to produce the recyclable Briket stool, the sawdust scraps and wood waste are compressed with potatoes

rather than applying paint or other design features onto the stool, the Swiss designer leaves it bare and raw

for Renaud Defrancesco, waste such as potatoes and sawdust scraps can be given a second life

prototype of the materials

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project info:

name: Briket stool

designer: Renaud Defrancesco

collaboration: Anne Bertoncini