Design Life-Cycle

 Monobloc Chair 

A Monobloc chair has become the face of modern day-to-day seating. It is the chair we see in social gatherings and public events. It is easy to move around and very convenient for such temporary occasions. It is light weight and easy to transport from one place to another. It was first designed by a Canadian designer D. C. Simpson in 1946[1]. It was commercially mass produced since the late 1960s to early 1970s. It was designed such that it can be stacked easily and will occupy minimal space for storage. However, not everyone is aware of its life cycle; from the raw materials that go into manufacturing them, to where they end up once they are used up. It is a rather simple product with great significance that has a life cycle the world is still largely unaware of.

The Monobloc chair is made out of plastic. Plastic has quickly become the most versatile and convenient material to be manufactured and used to make many items used in everyday lives. The plastic used to manufacture most of the Monobloc chairs is polypropylene. It was first made in 1951 by J. Paul Hogan and Robert Banks. Polypropylene is a kind of thermoplastic polymer made from the chain-growth polymerization of the monomer propylene gas which is obtained during the refining of gasoline. It is the second most widely produced standard plastic used for commodities after polyethylene[2]. Gasoline is a petroleum by-product obtained from extraction of petroleum. About 8% to 10% of the total oil supply is used to manufacture plastic[3]. However, oil extraction to produce these polypropylene granules has negative impacts towards the environment. The qualities of soil, air and water are impacted, hence leading to their pollution.

The manufacturing of these chairs is fairly simple. The melted polypropylene is simply injected into moulds that are shaped like the chair and hence moulded into the chair. There is no assembly involved. This manufacturing process is the most cost effective for batch produced pieces of furniture. The moulding machines are made out of metals. Running these machines require extensive use of tap water and electricity and hence naturally, these processes involve waste generation. The tap water used here gets contaminated and often times instead of being sent to a wastewater treatment plant to be treated, they are emitted into freshwater bodies which in turn severely pollute them, causing environmental and biological damage. Furthermore, not all of the polypropylene gathered as a raw material is used up. Some of it is wasted in the injection moulding process. Though this polypropylene can be recycled, often times it is not and it is simply discarded to be dumped into landfills and incinerators.

There isn’t a specific region in the world where most of the Monobloc chairs are manufactured. These chairs are largescale produced globally and well distributed and transported. Major countries that mass produce these chairs in millions include Russia, Taiwan, Australia, Mexico, the United States, Italy, France, Germany, Morocco, Turkey, Israel, India, and China[4]. They use many modes of transport, mostly road, rail, and water. By road, they can be transported using trucks and trailers that are made up of materials such as metals and rubber and use up fossil fuels such as petrol or diesel. Roads such as highways are constructed to ease the flow of such large vehicles and save time to reach the destination. Such massive road networks require manpower and a bulk of materials such as tar to construct. They are also time intensive. Trains that transport them also use up a lot of energy, raw materials, and most times, fuels. They also require expanses of land as a resource to construct railroads on. Cargo ships use up the most out of all modes of transport mentioned here. They require immense amount of fossil fuels and metals and other raw materials for their construction. This is the section of the chair’s life cycle that is the most manpower intensive. Manpower is required to operate, control and construct almost all the vessels and ways of transportation. Since there is an extensive use of fossil fuel based transport, carbon emissions are one of the major waste products of this stage. However, because this chair is manufactured and used in so many different places, the waste, impacts and issues of transportation are relatively hard to measure.

Monobloc chairs can be used multiple times. Hence, they need to be cleaned regularly to maintain them. They are washed and cleaned using hot water as to get rid of and kill harmful microorganisms. Thermal energy is used to heat the water up. This thermal energy is obtained from natural gas, which being a fossil fuel, is non-renewable and damages the environment. Sometimes, wastewater treatment plants are used to recycle the water. However, this does not nearly balance out the negative environmental impact caused by the fossil fuels as this treated water might be used again and reheated using natural gas obtained thermal energy.

Many plastics can be recycled nowadays and polypropylene is one such plastic. It is chosen by many companies for many products because of its capability to be recycled. An extruder is a metallic machine that is used to recycle plastics such as polypropylene. They press solid and viscous media through a die[5]. Plastic extrusion is a manufacturing process in which raw plastic is melted and formed into a continuous profile sheet[6]. However, Monobloc chairs are not made to be recycled back into new chairs. The strength of the plastic may change after it has been recycled and hence is not a viable option to manufacture new chairs with.

Although polypropylene can be recycled, data shows that less than 3% of the total polypropylene actually gets recycled[7]. The rest ends up in landfills and/or gets incinerated. In this process, once again there is extensive use of petrol and diesel as vehicles normally transport these used up polypropylenes to the landfills or incinerators. Manpower comes into play too. In addition to the excessive amount of air pollution caused by the fossil fuels, landfills contribute to global warming and pollution as well. They release methane gas, which is the most potent greenhouse gas. It is not just the air quality that gets severely affected by the dumping of toxic wastes in landfills. The plastics dumped here require to be lined. These linings, however, tend to have leaks and hence, a toxic liquid chemical called leachate is produced in landfills. Leaking caused by the dumped plastic also contaminated nearby waterbodies[8] and severely harm their ecosystems. Incineration too releases several greenhouse gases into the atmosphere as well as toxic fumes caused by the melting of plastic. The most common and important waste gases produced by incinerators are carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, and oxides of nitrogen[9].

When we normally discuss about global warming caused due to toxic gas emissions created by the use of fossil fuels, we like to target petrol or diesel run vehicles and often blame them for the high levels of pollution caused. What is easily forgotten or ignored is that there are so many products that require by-products of petroleum to be manufactured that should be equally blamed for polluting the environment and the fact that one such product is plastic, the most commonly used material in the world, is very concerning. To conclude, the world’s most infamous chair that has been around for several decades, is secretly damaging our ecosystem and planet. It was designed as a temporary and easy solution that almost everyone is aware of, but what most people are not aware of is the massive side effects caused by this popular chair. Due to its simplicity and the fact that it can be easily manufactured, it is not surprising that it is produced in bulk throughout the world. Its raw material is a plastic that is a secondary raw material obtained from petroleum, a substance that is required in almost every country and region for multiple other purposes.

Through this project, my group partner and I wanted to raise awareness about this simple yet destructive product. We worked together to collect as much information about this product as possible. We understood that this product was very simple and that there really was not much to discuss about it since it only uses one raw material, but we really wanted to choose this product because we realised that everyone knows about this product but they do not know how it affects the world we live in, mostly environmentally but also socially. I believe if our audience is aware of the hazards that come with this product, as future designers, we can come up with better and greener solutions to clean our planet and also keep the product’s efficiency the same if not improve it.

[1] “Monobloc (Chair).” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monobloc_(chair)#:~:text=Based%20on%20original%20designs%20by,Grosfillex%20Group%20in%20the%201970s.

[2] “Polypropylene Market Report.” Ceresana, https://www.ceresana.com/en/market-studies/plastics/polypropylene/.

[3] Plastic Bags and Petroleum. https://1bagatatime.com/learn/plastic-bags-petroleum/.

[4] “Monobloc (Chair).” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monobloc_(chair)#:~:text=Based%20on%20original%20designs%20by,Grosfillex%20Group%20in%20the%201970s.

[5] “What Is an Extruder Machine?” Videojet, https://www.videojet.com/us/homepage/resources/glossary/extruder-machines/extrusion.html#:~:text=Extruder%20machines%20press%20solid%20and,including%20wire%2C%20cable%20and%20pipe.

[6] “Plastic Extrusion.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_extrusion#:~:text=Plastics%20extrusion%20is%20a%20high,thermoplastic%20coatings%2C%20and%20wire%20insulation.

[7] There's Finally a Way to Recycle the Plastic in Shampoo and Yogurt Packaging. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-09-25/polypropylene-plastic-can-finally-be-recycled.

[8] The Hidden Damage of Landfills. https://www.colorado.edu/ecenter/2021/04/15/hidden-damage-landfills.

[9] “Monobloc (Chair).” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monobloc_(chair)#:~:text=Based%20on%20original%20designs%20by,Grosfillex%20Group%20in%20the%201970s.

Bibliography

Life Cycle Assessment Model of Plastic Products: Comparing Environmental Impacts for Different Scenarios in the Production Stage. https://www.proquest.com/materialscienceengineering/docview/2497909492/F806E711DE834D3EPQ/17?accountid=14505.

Kandananond, Karin. The Life Cycle Assessment of a Polypropylene Product, Part B: Comparison of Fuel Options for Generating Electricity and Disposal Methods. Feb. 2014, https://www.proquest.com/docview/1503140512/14921ABE46D4C99PQ/4.

Lear, G., et al. Impacts of Plastics (and Polypropylene) on the Environment and Microbiomes, Particularly the Ocean. https://www.scopus.com/record/display.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85099685712&origin=resultslist&sort=plf-f&src=s&sid=0686f833855aff368a39a5faa48144e0&sot=b&sdt=b&sl=42&s=TITLE-ABS-KEY%28polypropylene+manufacturing%29&relpos=7&citeCnt=7&searchTerm=.

Malpass, Dennis B., and Elliot I. Band. Introduction to Industrial Polypropylene : Properties, Catalysts Processes. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2130839570/503D393677784926PQ/2.

Carlsbad. Is the Monobloc Good Design? 3 Mar. 2021, https://www.proquest.com/docview/2495676775/E8739E8BA5234035PQ/1.

Canopoli, Luisa, et al. “How Polypropylene Breaks Down.” ScienceDirect, 1 Jan. 2020, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969719341026.

Gorman, Carma. “220C Virus Monobloc: The Infamous Chair.” ProQuest, July 2012, https://www.proquest.com/materialscienceengineering/docview/1473725469/324F269D672B4CC6PQ/6?accountid=14505.

Mannheim, Viktoria, and Zoltan Simenfalvi. “Total Life Cycle of Polypropylene Products: Reducing Environmental Impacts in the Manufacturing Phase.” ProQuest, 2020, https://www.proquest.com/materialscienceengineering/docview/2438147720/F806E711DE834D3EPQ/1?accountid=14505.

Wang, Q., et al. “Microplastics in the Ocean.” Scopus, https://www.scopus.com/record/display.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85114126858&origin=resultslist&sort=plf-f&src=s&sid=ff8e7c474809cf79c304062f562420ee&sot=b&sdt=b&sl=38&s=TITLE-ABS-KEY%28polypropylene+recycling%29&relpos=2&citeCnt=0&searchTerm=.

Aurrekoetxea, J., et al. “Effects of Recycling on the Microstructure and the Mechanical Properties of Isotactic Polypropylene.” ProQuest, June 2001, https://www.proquest.com/materialscienceengineering/docview/2260110534/7FB9140070A74D1BPQ/7?accountid=14505.

Stella Isaacs

Ananya Salian

DES 40A

Professor Cogdell

The Lifecycle of a Monobloc Chair from a Waste Perspective

Monobloc chairs can be seen anywhere and everywhere. There are many forms of a Monobloc, but the most recognizable one is the one-piece white plastic chair sitting in front of someone’s house. D. C. Simpson designed the first Monobloc chair in 1946. Many companies and designers have had their own take on the chair since, and many of these Monobloc chairs' origin stories are a mystery. It wasn’t until the 1970’s that they were mass produced. No original patent was applied for, so the Monobloc chair is produced all over the world by many different manufacturers. However, “In 1983, the really first high volume mass produced chairs came to market by the Grosfillex group, (Rashid).” Currently, so many people all across the world produce the chair, and it is estimated that billions of these chairs exist (Suzdaltsev). Monobloc chairs can look different from each other because the only requirements of being one is that the chair is injection molded and made of polypropylene. It is named “Monobloc” because it is made as just one piece rather than multiple pieces that are put together. The chair can be seen as a sign of globalization. It is so universal that seeing a Monobloc chair in a photo gives the viewer no sense of its location or the time the photo was taken. It’s cheap, easy to produce, and functional. It is important to study the sustainability of the Monobloc chair because of how popular it is. Examining its environmental impact from a lifecycle perspective shows that its production stage contributes the most to its environmental impact. 

Monobloc chairs were never patented. This means that they are produced all over the world by many different manufacturers. They are incredibly popular and mass produced which makes finding the exact impacts of one Monobloc chair impossible. This is in part due to the vague definition of a Monobloc chair, which is that it must be polypropylene and injection molded. Monobloc chairs can vary in size, color, exact shape, and how sustainably they are produced. For my research I focused on the effects of injection molded polypropylene in general, so that I could best encompass the effects of producing, using, and throwing out a Monobloc chair. 

The first and most impactful stage of a Monobloc chair is the production stage. The production stage includes raw material extraction, injection molding, and transportation for distributing the product. I will focus on all of these individually, starting with the waste effects of the raw materials. 

Raw materials for a Monobloc chair include polypropylene granules, compressed air, and tap water. Polypropylene granules are a thermoplastic polymer, meaning that they can be heated to be molded. They are made of the monomer propylene gas when it undergoes polymerization. The monomer propylene gas comes from the refining of gasoline. Gasoline comes from refined oil. The polypropylene granules have the highest environmental impact because they are made of refined oil (Mannheim and Simenfalvi). The extraction and refining of oil has many pollutants, especially air pollutants, that negatively impact the environment. This refined oil is turned into gasoline which is then turned into polypropylene granules that the chair can be injection molded from. When using the injection mold to produce the Monobloc chair there is also significant waste of the raw material polypropylene granules. A study by Mannheim and Simenfalvi found that thirty kg of polypropylene granules will form only twenty-five kg of the polypropylene product, wasting five kg of polypropylene granules (Mannheim and Simenfalvi). They also found that recycling the five kg of wasted polypropylene granules would reduce the environmental impact, but because there is no designated manufacturer it is hard to say that some companies, if any, do this. Monobloc chairs tend to weigh a lot less than thirty kg but the ratio of granules used to granules wasted is still roughly the same in real production too. Compressed air and tap water are also raw materials used in the production of Monobloc chairs. After tap water is used it has significant emissions to freshwater (Mannheim and Simenfalvi). In the study by Mannheim and Simenfalvi they also found that the water could be recycled and decrease emissions to freshwater. However, it is hard to say if any manufacturers actually do this. The raw materials that are used to make Monobloc chairs have strong environmental impacts.

Another stage in the production of Monobloc chairs is the injection molding of the chair. The injection molding machine needs all of the raw materials; compressed air, tap water, and polypropylene granules to produce a chair. The injection molding machine also uses electric energy. The main environmental impacts of the injection molding process are marine aquatic ecotoxicity and abiotic depletion for fossil fuels (Mannheim and Simenfalvi).

The last part of the production process is the transportation of the Monobloc to retailers and customers. Because the Monobloc chair is made in so many different places and used in so many different places the waste and impacts of transporting it are hard to measure. The most common methods for transporting mass produced objects similar to the Monobloc are by road, boat, and railway. On the road they are transported using trucks or trailers. These use petrol or diesel which are fossil fuels. The vehicles are made of rubber and various metals. Cargo ships are the boats that are used to transport large amounts of chairs. To move, these giant ships need huge amounts of fossil fuels. The ships also require a lot of materials to be constructed. Each of these types of transportation require manpower to build and operate all of the vehicles. The main impact this will have on the environment is global warming due to use of fossil fuels (Mannheim and Simenfalvi). After the Monobloc chair is distributed to various stores to be purchased, the next part of its life cycle is its use.

The next stage of a Monobloc chair is its use. People mainly just use the chair as seating. No parts of the chair need to be powered or are moveable. To clean the chair requires thermal energy from natural gas to heat the water, electricity, and wastewater treatment (Mannheim and Simenfalvi). Thermal energy from natural gas has the biggest environmental impact, and using the wastewater treatment plant has an extremely tiny environmental impact (Mannheim and Simenfalvi). Thermal energy is a fossil fuel and it isn’t renewable. According to Mannheim and Simenfalvi, during the use stage, the main environmental impacts are marine aquatic ecotoxicity and abiotic depletion for fossil fuels, which is the same as in the production stage. 

The last stage of the Monobloc chair is the end of life stage. When a Monobloc chair breaks it cracks in a way that isn’t practical to repair. Polypropylene isn’t biodegradable, so it can be put in the landfill, incinerated, or recycled. “Globally, it is estimated that only 10% of plastics are recycled and 14% incinerated; the remaining 76% goes to landfills or enters the natural environment (Lear, G. et al).” The first part of the end of life stage is transporting the Monobloc chair to a recycling facility, an incineration plant, or a landfill. When it breaks, or someone just decides to throw it out, it has to be transported to a facility by road, boat, or railway. When transported by road, they are transported using trucks or trailers that use up fossil fuels such as petrol or diesel. The boats used to transport waste such as Monobloc chairs are cargo ships. These giant ships use large amounts of fossil fuels to move the garbage. For all forms of transportation manpower is needed to build and operate all of the vehicles and modes. Transporting it causes global warming due to use of fossil fuels (Mannheim and Simenfalvi), negatively affecting the environment. 

Monobloc chairs aren’t made to be recycled back into new chairs, but the material can be recycled in a mechanical process. A machine called an extruder is used to recycle polypropylene by compacting and pressing it. It is melted by the extruder and turned into a long sheet of polypropylene that can be turned into new polypropylene products. An extruder uses electric energy. Recycling is less bad for the environment than incineration or landfills. 

However, if the Monobloc chair is not recycled it might be taken to an incineration plant. This takes fossil fuels to transport the chairs to incineration plants. When polypropylene is burned in an incineration plant it is to produce more energy. Incineration plants heavily impact air pollution.  

The majority of polypropylene is thrown into a landfill. This again takes fossil fuels to transport the waste to a landfill location. The polypropylene that is in landfills or in the natural environment impacts wildlife, especially sea animals. The plastic can break into smaller pieces and end up in the stomachs of wildlife creatures. When it is thrown in the landfill it takes water that needs to be treated in a water treatment plant. According to Mannheim and Simenfalvi the main environmental impact of disposing of a Monobloc is global warming, mostly due to when it is burned in an incineration plant. 

The Monobloc chair can be found nearly everywhere across the world. Examining its environmental impact from a lifecycle perspective shows that its production stage contributes the most to its environmental impact. Mannheim and Simenfalvi found that “the load on the environment was distributed as follows: 91% in the production phase, 3% in the use phase, and 6% in the end-of-life phase” for polypropylene injection molded products.

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Canopoli, Luisa, et al. “Degradation of Excavated Polyethylene and Polypropylene Waste from Landfill.” Science of The Total Environment, Elsevier, 26 Aug. 2019, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969719341026.

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