Kohler, Wisconsin, USA
The Abstra Collection by Kohler WasteLAB is new series of bespoke brushed and matte tiles for residential and commercial installations, made from nearly 100 percent recycled waste materials.
The Abstra Collection by Kohler WasteLAB has recently been awarded a 2022 Good Design Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
It is the second tile collection by KOHLER WasteLAB utilizing the company’s pottery refuse to create sustainable products for the home.
From the tile body to the glaze, Abstra explores the tenets of a circular economy inspired by the patterns of nature.
Each tile is unique and hand-crafted, allowing consumers to purchase sustainably without sacrificing beauty or functionality and enabling designers to express themselves and achieve their artistic vision.
The goal of Kohler WasteLAB is to reimagine how we approach waste by finding the value in landfill-bound material and engaging in a manufacturing process inspired by nature where nothing is wasted.
In nature, waste simply does not exist, and with the new Abstra Collection, Kohler WasteLAB is taking its circular innovation to a radical level, ensuring that waste is not just eliminated, but transformed into a viable, artfully made product for consumers.
Kohler WasteLAB takes wastewater sludge that others might see as unsalvageable and turns it into a beautiful tile.
The wastewater sludge consists predominantly of waste clay and glaze from the Wisconsin Pottery slip distribution system wash out, glaze department rinse out, and production slop sinks.
It is collected at the Central Waste Treatment Plant on the Wisconsin Kohler Campus and is then further dewatered and processed into filter cake.
From there WasteLAB uses filter cake to create the tile body for the new Abstra collection.
The finished product is a sustainable tile inspired by the play of light and shadow naturally created on reliefs.
Each tile is unique, reflecting the specific impurities that might be in that batch of waste.
With this collection, Kohler WasteLAB proves that art and sustainability don’t have to be mutually exclusive.
Consumers can feel good about the product’s sustainable manufacturing process while also taking pleasure in the product’s beautiful, high-end design.
The Abstra Collection is making it possible for consumers to not only fulfill their interests and pursue beautifully designed products, but also be better stewards of our planet.
This Collection is just the beginning when it comes to the potential of WasteLAB and a step toward Kohler’s goal to contribute zero waste to landfills by 2035.
Project: The Abstra™ Collection by Kohler WasteLAB®
Designers: Industrial Design, Kohler Co.
Lead Designer: Dana Morales
Manufacturer: Kohler Co.
