He set up Cohda Design (cohda.com) in 2006 and has worked on projects for clients including the UK Design Council and Tom Dixon. An experimental chair, the RD21, is on display at Plus Design in Milan (plusdesigngallery.it).
"My father made the early mistake of giving me a tool kit when I was 10. Once I learnt how to take out a screw I started disassembling everything from video recorders to egg whisks. It was quite expensive for my parents to replace everything I had taken apart.
My interest in recycling came about 10 years ago when I was trying to get rid of my fridge. The council wouldn’t take it so I strapped it to the roof of my car and drove it to the recycling plant. When I got there I saw about three football fields full of white goods that nobody could do anything with.
We’re sweeping our waste under the carpet. Britain is running out of dumping ground and we’re shipping our waste to other countries like China. The energy used in shipping all this around is enormous.
When I started looking into sustainable design I found recycled wood panels and plastic sheeting, but you’re limited in what you can produce from them. So after studying design for a masters degree at Northumbria University I spent two years researching domestic packaging waste at the Royal College of Art.