NEST: Showcasing marketable upcycling solutions for interior design

Swiss innovation and research building NEST is all about bringing new sustainable technologies to the market, but faster. Upcycling solutions enabled by BASF binder technology are now part of the platform: a new unit features high-performance surface coverings from waste materials.

There is often a long way to go between technologies that work in the laboratory and the kind of reliable, mature products required by the market. NEST, created by Swiss research institutions Empa and Eawag, has partners from research, industry and the public sector joining forces to master this challenge. This way, sustainable solutions can quickly gain a foothold e.g. in the construction and interior design industries.   

The recently inaugurated STEP2 unit features a multitude of material-saving and energy-efficient technologies, with recycled raw materials at its center. Based on the principles of upcycling, BASF together with industry partners such as 21upcycling has developed processes to create high-performance surface coverings from waste materials. These play an integral role in the unit’s 3D-formed wall panels, its floor coverings and kitchen surfaces.  

Our innovative water-based dispersion acForm^® enabled new design dimensions for the three-dimensionally formed wall panels which contain recycled denim fibers, used paper cups and coffee grounds.  The same recycled materials are part of the unit’s floor panels which were manufactured with our Acronal^® binder and high-performance coatings. In the kitchen area, coffee grounds combined with acForm^® binder helped create durable, high-quality furniture surfaces.