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What is the Chip[s] Board® Company?
Founded by Rowan Minkley and Robert Nicoll, the Chip[s] Board® Company is based out of the United Kingdom and is working to create a sustainable alternative to medium density fiberboard (MDF), a common interior household product that comes with several environmental problems, identified below.
According to their website, the Chip[s] Board® Company team’s “philosophy is that a circular economy in waste (byproduct) management and material production will create a new sustainable model, utilizing the abundant resources we currently have rather than continually processing virgin materials.”
According to Rob Nicoll, CPO & co-founder, "materials often need to have short lives, so our vision is to create materials that work with the cycles of nature, not against it."
Instead of cutting down virgin forest to plant fast-growing monoculture stands of timber to have a steady source of wood pulp for the construction and lumber industries—which reduces wildlife habitat, among other things—the Chip[s] Board® Company has found that potato waste can be transformed into a recycled, useful, durable, and beautiful product that mimics composite wood products such as medium density fiberboard.
The Chip[s] Board® team has teamed up with McCain, one of the largest potato producers in the UK, who provides the company with a steady stream of raw materials (potato waste) for material production. Currently, they are in the process of designing and creating several innovative and sustainable circular economy materials using potato waste, including lampshades and milk stools.
Unlike certain biofuels that have come under scrutiny for utilizing large amounts of land and edible food to create fuel, such as ethanol, to power, the cars, the Chip[s] Board® Company does not utilize any edible potato chips in their products. Rather, they rely on non-food-grade industrial potato waste for the manufacture of their products.
Chip[s] Board® Products
While Chip[s] Board® is working with several different designers, engineers, and inventors to develop new uses for the alternative particle board they offer, they currently plan to market three other products.
- Chip Particle Board (CPB): This particulate board can be used for various interior design projects, including wall partitions. In some cases, it might replace reliance on MDF products such as baseboard, trim, and molding for interiors. This fine-grain rigid board has a smooth surface finish, which makes it desirable for designers and inventors—and they are looking for more to use their product. It comes available in a range of natural pigments, thus removing the need for further painting or sealing and thus limiting potential VOC issues in your home.
- Chip Strand Board (CSB): This is another type of particulate board manufactured from potato waste. In contrast to the product mentioned above, the CSB particulate board CSB is a smooth fiberboard with incredible surface finish and tensile strength, which can also be used for interior design.
- Parblex (PBX): This material is a bioplastic that is designed to be used primarily in the fashion industry for accessories and fastenings. This translucent bioplastic also has a smooth surface finish as well.
Chip[s] Board® is still developing more products, but they worth keeping an eye on as a potential supplier for cool, sustainable home products. You can sign up here to be notified when these products become commercially available.
Sustainability Benefits
MDF particleboard, flooring, molding, and other products are often imbued with formaldehyde and other chemical additives that can reduce the quality of the air you breathe inside your home. On the other hand, the products developed by Chip[s] Board® on the other hand, are durable, recyclable, biodegradable, and do not emit any harmful VOCs into your home. They contain no toxic chemicals and have been explicitly designed to create a stronger circular economy for materials. It’s an exciting example of what innovators can do—and homeowners can expect to see more of it in the future—as we work to transform our wasteful economy into a circular economy.
Tobias Roberts
Tobias runs an agroecology farm and a natural building collective in the mountains of El Salvador. He specializes in earthen construction methods and uses permaculture design methods to integrate structures into the sustainability of the landscape.
