Furniture manufacturer Emeco has teemed with The Coca-Cola Company to reincarnate a seating classic originally designed in 1944 for the U.S. Navy. In addition to its original aluminum fabrication, Emeco’s Navy Chair will be available beginning in June in a recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) plastic derived from 20-ounce Coca-Cola bottles. The new line, dubbed 111 Navy for the 111 plastic bottles that will be used in each chair, debuted at the 2010 Milan Furniture Show, Salone Internazionale del Mobile.
Sourced at the Coca-Cola plastic recycling plant in Spartanburg, S.C., the rPET formulation is reinforced with glass fiber for strength and infused with pigments to yield six contemporary colors: Coca-Cola red, snow, flint, grass, persimmon, and charcoal. Snow, flint, and red are safe for outdoor use. A distinctive scratch-resistant velvet finish keeps the chair looking sleek and sophisticated.The 111 Navy Chair includes the same under-seat stretcher as the original, granting structural integrity as well as ensuring authenticity, according to Emeco. A five-year structural guarantee is included.
Emeco and Coca-Cola estimate that the 111 Navy Chair’s production will use more than 3 million PET plastic bottles annually. The chair will be manufactured at Emeco’s North Carolina molding facility and made available in the United States exclusively through Design Within Reach, www.dwr.com.