The Wehlers Design Brief: Begin with the End in Mind

At Wehlers, we believe that true sustainability is not just about what a product is made from, but what happens to it at the end of its life. This philosophy is at the core of our business and is captured in our primary design brief: begin with the end in mind.

This simple but profound principle is what drives our commitment to creating high-quality, durable seating. Unlike the traditional "take-make-dispose" model, our products are part of a full circular economy. This means we design and manufacture every R.U.M. Chair with the full expectation that it will one day be returned to our hands. We look at a chair not as a one-time sale, but as a long-term asset that we will handle multiple times throughout its lifecycle.

The Need for Uncompromising Quality

The decision to make our chairs part of a full circular system puts an immense focus on quality and strength. A weak or poorly made chair would quickly become useless, failing the fundamental purpose of our take-back system. By building products that can withstand the test of time and repeated use, we ensure their longevity and value. This durability is what makes our circular model work, as it allows us to:

• Reuse and Remanufacture: Chairs can be repaired, parts can be replaced, and they can be given a new life for a new client.

• Prevent Virgin Plastic: When a chair is returned and reused, there is no need to make a new one. The more we reuse, the less we produce, preserving valuable materials and natural resources.

• Reduce Carbon Footprint: The energy and carbon emissions required to recycle materials are significantly lower than those needed to manufacture new virgin plastic. By designing for this closed loop, we keep our environmental impact to a minimum.

Ultimately, we enjoy selling the R.U.M. Chair more than once, not just for business but for the planet. Our commitment to quality is an investment in a waste-free future, ensuring that the materials we use stay in the loop and out of landfills.

It is critical that all materials used in the process must be clean and without being mixed with ugly substances. In our view, a product that contains multiple different plastics and other elements, such as glass fiber, is NOT part of a full circular model. These "dirty" or mixed materials often cannot be fully recycled and will eventually end up in a landfill. Our design brief demands that we use pure, unmixed materials that can be easily disassembled, sorted, and recycled back into the production of a new R.U.M. Chair. This is how we ensure our promise of a truly closed-loop system.