What matters is not what something costs, but what something is worth: ancient wisdom behind the philosophy of an innovative manufacturer of reusable sheet metal. In partnership with Electrolux, Triboo is breaking open a new future for the kitchen world.

Three hundred thousand kitchens, that's roughly what we sell every year. About one and a half million cabinets are in them. Nice numbers, you can be proud of that as a manufacturer or salesperson. But think a little further. After a hopefully long and happy existence, all those boxes will one day become waste. A huge pile of wood fiber and plastic, held together by toxic binders and glues. That mountain is also your product as a kitchen seller. And you will have to do something with it. It's not the way we're used to thinking about kitchens, but that's about to change. During Dutch Design Week 2019 in Eindhoven, the first production kitchen of the NeverEnding Kitchen brand was launched by Triboo, a young Dutch company. Last summer, it signed a cooperation agreement with Electrolux, the manufacturer of appliance brands AEG and Zanussi. A perfect match between world-class furniture and appliances was born. "Originally, we are an office furnisher," says Triboo director Marc van der Heijden. "What we innovate on is material-binding technology and modular construction. We do that in many ways, with different partners or all by ourselves. We got a lot of questions about circular kitchens and didn't find answers in the current kitchen market. From then on, we took it up ourselves, using what we learned with our desks and cabinets to move the change to circular kitchens. The task is huge. For that, you need someone with heart in your business, the right mindset and willingness to do things a little differently. That click was there from the first moment with Electrolux."

Proud Mario Spaans, key account manager projects at the equipment manufacturer, can only confirm. "We have already been named the most sustainable manufacturer in our industry twelve times in a row, something to be very proud of. We are busy with circularity and sustainability, and with the latter we are already very far. With less use of plastic, for example, self-sufficiency with energy, transport via rail instead of sea containers. And all that not only because there is a lot of demand for it, but also to give something back to society, responsibility. That's just part of it." Furniture construction panels are produced in the billions worldwide and also burned in the billions. To change that, according to Van der Heijden, you don't have to be a big company, but stand apart from existing interests. "If you have just invested millions to increase the production capacity of particle board with formaldehyde, you are not going to do the complete opposite for a while. So you shouldn't expect this kind of innovation from the industry."

GOLD The big problem with recycling: there are toxic substances in all that sheet material that you can't easily get out. Triboo focuses on making sheets that don't have toxic stuff in them. "So people can give it back and we can reproduce it into the exact same material. That also means preserving the value. With an old kitchen, you're no longer talking about residual value but raw material value, just like with gold. You don't throw that away either, it even gets stolen, just like lead from roofs and copper along the railroad tracks." Laughs, "In the future, you will see them come and steal your old kitchen to turn it in to us!" What matters is not just thinking about cost, but also, and more importantly, value. "We are always used to doing business and getting a little money out of it. Only the waste costs, society pays those for us and you don't see that. The focus is very quickly: what does that kitchenette cost, or what does that microwave cost. But what it costs society to process all that waste, that is invisible. While that waste simply has value." So what specifically is it, this NeverEnding Kitchen? Triboo's website shows three basic models that can be widely varied. One is specially marketed for housing corporations: modular, easy to assemble, disassemble and modify. For offices there is a pantry and for developers a project kitchen. What they all have in common is that they are made in the Netherlands, that they contain no toxic substances, that they can be simply taken apart to reuse the material. And that the lifespan can be extended: because parts can be remade, suitable material is always available to renovate or extend a kitchen. This is manifested, for example, in the "plug&play" back wall: connections for water, drainage and electricity are standardized together, so there is no need for sawing or breaking if the sink cabinet needs to be replaced. NeverEnding Kitchens are now in use at companies such as Randstad, Monsterboard and SNS Bank. Prototypes of the corporation model are at Ymere and Eigen Haard in and around Amsterdam. The very first one, which was featured at Dutch Design, was made of used packaging material: also an important part of the waste stream - as anyone who has ever delivered or installed a kitchen knows. "We are also working on this at our company," says Mario Spaans. "Packaging is a substantial part of what goes on in our company. We even have a separate European steering committee at Electrolux that deals with this. How to use less packaging, with less plastics, and with deposits. There is also demand for this from clients, especially in the project market. If you install kitchen appliances in a hundred and sixty new homes, that alone means an unimaginable amount of waste that you can reduce."

GROUNDST What it's all about in the end is turning cost into value. Marc van der Heijden: "We are constantly looking for ways to ensure that the materials you make a kitchen out of can never become waste again. Waste is really just a stray raw material without an owner who takes responsibility. Therein also lies the importance of the cooperation with Electrolux. The point is that that raw material value can come back to that customer for a piece. The value of cellulose as a raw material is not that great, but all the metal that they put into their equipment is very valuable and will remain so. I've already told Mario that Electrolux is actually the bank of the future!"

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Circular

There is more to a circular business model than recycling waste. Central to it is that companies like Triboo do not just make and sell stuff, but remain owners of the raw material. The buyer/user of the products becomes 'caretaker': they take care of the product until it reaches the end of its life cycle. Then the producer takes it back to make new things from it. In this vision, the joint users are also called a 'raw materials bank': after all, that is where the value of the material is temporarily housed. Manufacturing also means more than just buying and processing raw material. Throughout the process of design, manufacturing and maintenance, the producer must constantly keep in mind that raw materials remain usable. In design, it is important that a product be easy to take apart. In manufacturing - as in the example of the circular kitchen - it is about the right choice of materials: without toxic additives and easily separable. That leads to sharp choices and innovative production methods, such as the use of natural fibers and harmless binders. But also to the application of advanced techniques such as 3D printing, CNC material processing and thermoforming. With all that, it faces three threats: environmental pollution, climate change, and resource depletion. In addition, it also offers benefits to the user, because a circular product does not necessarily have to be more expensive. After all, the raw material value comes back, for companies there are subsidies that make investment more advantageous, and for the private customer, a circular kitchen is also something to show off proudly.