How much would you pay to sit on a PlayStation 2?

Davey Winder
Wednesday, 03 September 2008 01:36

Science - Energy

In what it claims as a world first, a UK company has announced a chair made from 100 percent recycled plastic from a single source. Oh yes, that source happens to be the Sony PlayStation 2 games console...

I am all for innovative recycling projects. Anything that can help make a difference to the environment is OK by me.

So when I heard that a British company called Pli Design were making chairs from 100 percent recycled games consoles I just had to investigate further.

The 'Reee' chair is to be officially launched on September 10th, rather appropriately at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe’s head office in London.

The plastic back and seat are manufactured entirely from recycled PlayStation 2 consoles, meaning that 100 percent of the plastic comes from a single source of recycled consumer products and that, says Pli Design, is a UK first.

What's more, this very British product sources all the old consoles from the domestic market, and uses some 2.4kg of old PlayStation plastic per chair.

As well as being good for the planet, the Reee should be good for your wallet as well. Why so? Well, recycled plastic only requires a fraction of the energy to produce when compared with what you might call virgin plastic straight from the oil barrel as it were.

The carbon footprint is also reduced, because the chair uses UK-sourced materials and is manufactured in the UK so it only travels a fraction of the distance from factory to customer when compared to the average 'Made in China' chair these days.

"The simple idea behind the Reee chair is to produce a recycled furniture product in the UK that has style, function and durability" says Alex Whitney, Pli’s Design Manager "but does not compromise its environmental credentials."

While there is no doubting the environmental credentials bit, it is a bit too soon to comment on durability. Although there's not a lot that can go wrong with a simple plastic chair.

However, having seen photos of the Reee chair I was somewhat disappointed that it looks like, well, a plastic chair albeit a pretty one. Where is the soul of the PlayStation?

I am not sure what I was expecting, but I know I was expecting something more than this. Although the price has yet to be announced, Pli’s Director, Christopher Pett, assures me that "The Reee chair does not put a premium on the cost of sustainable living: it is priced competitively with other domestic and contract seating designs in the UK market."

Cool. What a shame it had to look the same as well. I would probably have paid a premium for something that screamed gaming geek at me...