Following a call for projects to reuse used furniture launched in 2018, Ecomobilier supported Atelier Emmaüs. The joinery-school provides vocational support for people in serious exclusion and teaches them craft skills. The aim is for them to create design objects designed in particular from used furniture.
July 12, 2010 - Eco-mobilier is the eco-organization in charge of collecting, sorting and recycling furniture and furnishing components. Waste prevention through the reuse of used furniture is one of its key priorities, with the aim of achieving ZERO waste by 2023.
In partnership with more than 500 players in the Social and Solidarity Economy, Eco-mobilier launched its first "call for projects for the reuse and re-utilization of used furniture" in 2018. Eco-mobilier selected the 10 most innovative initiatives according to three categories: creating upcycled furniture ranges, setting up second-hand materials stores, and developing skills. It was in this context that the Atelier Emmaüs project was selected.
"Our ambition is to increase the re-use rate of used furniture. To achieve this, it is essential to guarantee the quality of products sent to social economy platforms, and to develop the skills of their employees," explains Dominique Mignon, President of Eco-mobilier.
L'Atelier Emmaüs launches a new collection of recycled objects and trains people suffering from social exclusion.
L'Atelier Emmaüs is aimed at the most excluded members of society. Its mission is to give them access to craft skills, with the dual aim of re-mobilizing them and integrating them professionally.
The project supported by Eco-mobilier ranges from the technical study to the commercial launch of a collection of five pieces of furniture and decorative objects. The aim is a real transfer of know-how, with people on integration schemes supervised by professional cabinetmakers. These objects, designed by big names in design (Lisa Lejeune, Férréol Babin and Studio 5.5), are made from second-hand materials, mainly used furniture. They are intended to be sold online and in boutiques.
"Beyond the technical fine-tuning required to manufacture small series of 10 to 50 pieces, we had to work on managing production times," notes Guillaume Poignon, manager of Atelier Emmaüs. "On the other hand, socio-professional integration is facilitated by exchanges between people on integration schemes and new worlds: mass production, boutique and online distribution, designers... and by the acquisition of joinery know-how passed on by professional cabinetmakers."
With the support of Eco-mobilier, Atelier Emmaüs has created an offer that didn't exist before: contemporary design objects signed by the great names of French design, such as Lisa Lejeune, Ferréol Babin and Ionna Vautrin, made in France in a context of professional integration and from recycled materials.
About L'Atelier Emmaüs
Born in 2017 in Lyon, Atelier Emmaüs is a joinery-school specializing in professional integration through crafts and design. Its aim: to revalue materials while revaluing people. Its four cabinetmakers guide apprentice-craftsmen, referred by social action organizations, through a 30-day introductory course. By discovering artisanal skills, passed on by skilled cabinetmakers at the heart of a demanding economic sector, the apprentice-craftsmen regain self-confidence and a taste for work well done.
Wherever possible, Atelier Emmaüs uses wood from used furniture for its creations.