The sustainability of Evove

Evostyle, the creators of Evove, have always had a strong focus on sustainability. Minimising waste and the reuse/recycling of products and materials were key factors considered in the design of Evove. The result? Evove is made from the timber offcuts from the other manufacturing processes in the factory (and those of other timber processors) and comes with a Product Stewardship Program for product recycling/reuse; combine this with the fact that 50% of timber dry weight is made up of stored carbon, and Evove has a pretty significant environmental story to tell. 

Reducing waste – maximising recovery

Timber shorts and smalls have always been a problem for high-value timber utilisation. Offcuts from trimming to size in sawmills and leftovers from manufacturing furniture have always been problematic to sell or re-use.

“At Evostyle, we are always looking for new ways to improve workshop sustainability and reduce waste, and we encourage others to take a similar outlook for their own workshops and mills.”

“The benefits of taking such steps reach beyond our workshops. Our community, industry, and the environment all benefit when we improve our resource management, reduce waste output, and lessen our environmental impact,” said Louise Ommundson.

In the past Evostyle have, where possible, used their offcuts for smaller products, donated shorts and smalls to local schools and men’s sheds, and as a last resort, sold the remainder as firewood.

The clever manufacturing of Evove, using their leading manufacturing facility, enables these shorts and smalls to be turned into something of exceptional value destined for a circular economy.

To manufacture Evove, the by-product of furniture manufacturing, short offcuts and small pieces of timber are put into the four-headed moulder to get straightened and dressed. Once straight, they are glue-laminated together to create a larger piece.

The larger piece is then machined with the CNC 5 axis into Evove tiles. The tiles are then hand-finished before being coated in Osmo, which is a sustainable, natural, environmentally friendly product with no toxins. They’re then ready to be installed.

“When ordering Evove, you can choose to have it made from any timber species, but we encourage specifiers to enquire about the timber that we have in shorts and smalls at the factory. This depends on the furniture that we are currently manufacturing, but typically includes American Walnut, Oak and Ash,” says Louise.

“We are also developing relationships with Australian sawmills to source shorts and smalls in a variety of other species.”

Product Stewardship Program

“Timber is an incredibly versatile material,” says Louise. “There is so much use to be coaxed from this amazing product beyond what it was initially used for, which is why Evostyle embraces stewardship.

“Our stance on stewardship moves beyond responsible management of raw timber resources and includes managing already used materials in recycling efforts. Meaning moving away from the ‘take, make, dispose’ and ‘single use’ mindsets that fast furniture and mass production have introduced.”

With the Evostyle Product Stewardship Program, Evove tiles can be returned to be rejuvenated, repurposed, re-sanded or reused. Rejuvenated tiles can be sold on to someone else or donated.

“With the right TLC, timber products, whether it be architectural components, furniture or structures, can be revitalised. The carbon stored in that timber can then remain a long-term carbon store.”

According to Planet Ark, 50% of the dry weight of timber is stored carbon. With Evove weighing on average 25kg per square metre – this is a substantial store of carbon.