Emma designs the World´s first furniture in 100% fossil-free steel - Earlier this year, it was announced that the Norwegian urban furniture manufacturer Vestre would become the first furniture company in the world to use SSAB’s 100% fossil-free steel. Now, Vestre presents the result of the collaboration: the bench Tellus, designed by the multiple award-winning and celebrated Swedish designer Emma Olbers, who long has pushed the issue of sustainability in the design industry. 

”For me, it is important that form follow the planetary boundaries and aim to be part of the solution in the green transition. Therefore, it ́s great to collaborate with companies that also want to be at the forefront and have actually realized that we are sawing off the very branch we are sitting on. These are companies that set Science Based Targets (SBTi) to contribute in meeting the Paris Agreement”, says Emma Olbers. 

Emma Olbers has worked as a designer, interior designer, and creative director for the last 20 years. She believes that sustainability and product lifecycles are key concerns and she strives to incorporate it into all of her work. Olbers wants to design good products – good in all aspects, including being good for our planet. She tries to design products with as low carbon emissions as possible, preferably made from renewable or recycled materials, carefully produced to last for a long time. 

Like Olbers, Vestre also strives to be at the forefront of the green shift and has always been quick to test new technologies and solutions to constantly reduce their overall climate impact. Since traditional steel production is based on coal burning, it has a very large emission of greenhouse gases – globally it accounts for seven percent of all CO2 emissions, and for Vestre alone, steel makes up over 60% of the company’s total carbon footprint.

“That is why it is one of our prime targets for decarbonization.We aim to be recognized as the world’s most sustainable furniture company and to push the development and transition to more sustainable materials and production methods. To get there, we need to be ahead of the curve. Early estimates show that converting all our steel to fossil- free could reduce our overall footprint by around 60 percent”, says Øyvind Bjørnstad CSO (Chief Sustainability Officer) at Vestre.