Brighton-based design studio Gomi has created the Collection One speaker to showcase the capabilities of recycled plastic. The company, co-founded by Rishi Gupta and Tom Meades, points out that each speaker, with its distinctive marbled case, uses the equivalent of 44 plastic bags in its production, as well as incorporating former lithium e-bike batteries for power.
Gomi Collection One speaker in recycled plastic
The speakers are designed to be easily repairable, with just 29 components making up each unit. All of these can be separated and either replaced or repaired. The brand also offers customers a trade-in option, encouraging circularity in the production-consumption-reuse model.
Each speaker is unique and numbered, with three different colourways, Panther, Ultraviolet and Avalanche. Two speakers can be paired to deliver stereo sound and the unit has a welcome heft and solidity to it. The company believes that tech can be playful and personable, not just another matt grey box, and part of this process is about beautifying waste material to make it more desirable.
Part of the Gomi philosophy is to highlight the ongoing issues with single-use virgin plastic. ‘Flexible plastic (LDPE) such as bubble wrap, food packaging and plastic bags account for 290,000 tonnes of plastic waste per year,’ the studio writes, pointing out that all of this ends up in landfill at best.
By working closely with local recycling companies, Gomi is able to get hold of these raw materials, transforming them into objects that you’d be happy to have in your home. The second-life e-bike battery gives around 32 hours of battery life, and there’s Bluetooth 5.0 in addition to an AUX input, meaning the speaker is backwards-compatible with so much more than a smartphone.
‘We envision a world where waste is not seen as a problem, but as a resource that can be transformed into beautiful and unique masterpieces that fuse form and function,’ says Gupta. ‘We believe that design is a force for change that can inspire equitable solutions to our throwaway culture.’
Gomi Collection One portable speaker, available only via Gomi.design, £299
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