Basque designer Jean Louis Iratzoki has moulded the shell of a chair from a plant-based polymer that is fully recyclable and biodegradable and this chair is the first on the market to feature a 100 per cent bioplastic seat. Injection-moulded seats are commonly formed from non-renewable plastics, produced using finite fossil fuels that are considered harmful to the environment – something Iratzoki wanted to avoid. As an alternative, Iratzoki's studio researched and developed a type of plastic that is made using only renewable plant-based resources such as beet, corn starch and sugarcane. The compound is obtained using a series of mechanical processes, followed by a fermentation period. The resulting polymer can be injected, extruded and thermoformed into the desired shape. This bio-based polymer is fully recyclable and its organic properties mean that, when subjected to an industrial process, it is biodegradable," says Iratzoki.