NewspaperWood

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The development of NewspaperWood (then called NewspaperWood) began in 2003 as the result of a research project by Design Academy Eindhoven alumnus Mieke Meijer. After a collaboration with Vij5 in 2007 and a joint presentation of the material in 2011, the material underwent a long development process. We are proud to be one of the founders of NewspaperWood bv and still use the material for several products in the Vij5 collection.

How it all began

Every day piles of newspapers are thrown away and recycled into new paper. While studying at the Design Academy Eindhoven, Mieke Meijer came up with a way to use this surplus paper in a different way and turn it into an innovative material: NewspaperWood.

"NewspaperWood allows newsprint made from wood to revert to wood. The NewspaperWood has surprisingly similar properties to those of (solid) wood. When the NewspaperWood is sawn, the different layers of the paper come to the surface. From a distance this looks strikingly like wood grains or annual rings of a tree, but if you look closer you can even discover a letter here and there."

The paths of Mieke and Vij5 (Arjan van Raadshooven & Anieke Branderhorst) first crossed in 2007. Upon seeing the NewspaperWood in Mieke's portfolio, a collaboration was quickly born. Mieke and Vij5 pre-
sent the product together for the first time during the Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven in 2008. After that, Mieke and Vij5 continued the development of the material and its production process.

First NewspaperWood collection

For the launch of the first product collection and the international presentation of the material, Mieke and Vij5 asked a group of talented Dutch designers to experiment with NewspaperWood within the Vij5 collection.

The main goal was to create an open attitude and explore the possibilities this new material had to offer. We wanted to embrace experimentation and create an open character for the project as a whole to keep future possibilities open and within reach.

This diverse collection was successfully presented in Milan in April 2011. Since then, the material NewspaperWood has been presented at various exhibitions and fairs at home and abroad.

Upcycling

NewspaperWood does not aim to become a large-scale alternative to wood or reuse all paper waste into a new material. The main theme of the project is "upcycling"; we show how a surplus material can be applied into something more valuable by using it within a different context.

Despite the fact that current printing techniques at the newspaper are so efficient that proof prints and first unusable copies are minimized, there is still plenty of basic material available to us. In addition, we use the "newspaper-of-yesterday" that was not distributed and is old news today anyway ... all this gives us a perfect and local source of basic material!

To "upcycle" newsprint to NewspaperWood , we take it (temporarily) out of the existing cycle of paper recycling. Our aim is to be able to bring our own residual material back into the cycle as well. Therefore, we use an adhesive without solvents and plasticizers that would make recycling more difficult. This not only makes it possible to bring our own sawing and sanding waste back into the cycle, but also allows the actual products to be disposed of with the paper waste, so to speak, although of course we hope they will be treasured for a long time to come ...

NewspaperWood BV

Today, due to the growing success of NewspaperWood , it has become a separate organization called NewspaperWood Holding BV. This company is dedicated to the production and development of the NewspaperWood material in order to explore new semi-finished products, products and innovative applications.

For more information, please visit our website : www.newspaperwood.com