Kohler WasteLAB, the manufacturing waste reuse business launched by the kitchen and bath plumbing giant, has debuted its first bathroom sink, Vox, which is made from more than 70 percent recycled materials.
“The new WasteLAB Vox sink is not only a new category for our WasteLAB business but also a completely new material set,” says Monty Stauffer, Kohler WasteLAB lead industrial designer, product and process. “This will allow us to look at a wider range of products that can reuse waste and help reach our goal of zero waste to landfill, as well as providing consumers with another path for sustainable living.”
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Offered in a vessel style with a stone-like aesthetic that is unique to each piece, the handcrafted bathroom sink features a soft minimalist form. The production process uses an innovative recycling process that repurposes and reuses ceramic waste, foundry sand and foundry dust (responsible for the the Ashen color) as well as the company’s Vikrell material (responsible for the eggshell color).It measures 23 inches wide, 16 5/16 inches from front to back and sits 3 3/16 inches tall from the countertop.
“The sink has the look and feel of natural granite or polished stone, tying together a sense of high design with materials that previously were considered scrap,” Stauffer says. “What we do at Kohler WasteLAB is a game changer on how people will look at waste moving forward.”
Founded in 2017, the Kohler WasteLAB has been looking for ways to reimagine waste using nature as a model for sustainable processes. The company maps out its waste streams from products so it may see exactly where they came from and what they were made of. “We redefined waste streams as not ‘waste,’ but as ingredients and valuable materials for new products – and most importantly, as opportunities for innovation,” the company says. “From 2019 through 2023, sales of Kohler WasteLAB tile have diverted more than 73,426 pounds of waste from landfills, exemplifying Kohler’s commitment to achieving net-zero waste to landfill by 2035.”