SHIPPING pallets and crates are getting a new lease on life as functional, fashionable furniture.
The Waste Converters Recycling and Victorian Woodworkers Association Create from a Crate competition is on again.
It challenges wood designers, crafts people, woodworkers and more to turn timber that would go to landfill into functional or artistic objects promoting recycling and waste reduction.
Waste Converters in Dandenong South provides the timber used in the competition, which comes from shipping pallets and crates that were made in the USA and supplied for recycling by AMCOR Flexibles.
Each year 500,000 tonnes of timber is disposed of in Victoria, much of it coming from pallets, crates and boxes.
Waste Converters Recycling managing director Ward Petherbridge hopes Create from a Crate helps make people more aware of the material’s potential.
“We believe that timber waste is a valuable resource that should be reused and recycled as a priority, rather than being discarded and wasted in landfill sites,” he said.
Furniture designer and creator Martin Davis won first prize in the 2004 contest and is participating again this year.
He’d recently decided to change careers after 14 years in landscape architecture when Create from a Crate came along.
“That was when I was starting out,” he said.
“It was one of the first pieces that I made. I was still quite green when I made it.
“The whole idea was I wanted to make something that utilised the entire pallet.”
And aside from a few offcuts, he did – right down to a clear leg containing the screws and nails that once held the crate together.
“It is quite challenging,” he said.
“I probably will go with a similar approach.
“The whole point of the competition is to use something that would otherwise be classed as waste.”
Mr Martin said he’d also approach the piece with both functionality and aesthetics in mind.
“It’s a lot more challenging and fun,” he said.
Two wooden pallets will be made available to each contestant. A maximum of about 10 per cent of the total amount of the finished work may be other materials such as glass, steel or other timbers.
First prize is $3000, second prize $2000 and third prize and a Waste Converters prize will be $1000 each.
Works will be exhibited at a metropolitan gallery and regional Victorian centres.
Visit www.wasteconverters.com.au for more information.
