From Scrap to Style at Kohler

KOHLER, Wis., April 29, 2024 /3BL/ - Kohler’s industry-leading manufacturing waste reuse business, KOHLER WasteLAB, announces its first bathroom sink, constructed of more than 70 percent recycled materials. These materials have been repurposed and reused to create a one-of-a-kind Vox sink, diverting manufacturing waste from landfills.

The Kohler WasteLAB Vox handcrafted bathroom sink features a soft minimalist form, offered in a vessel style, with a stone-like aesthetic that is unique to each sink. The sink production uses an innovative recycling process with both ceramic and cast iron waste, making each piece a truly unique creation.

“The new WasteLAB Vox sink is not only a new category for our WasteLAB business, but also a completely new material set. This will allow us to look at a wider range of products that can reuse waste and help reach our goal of zero waste to landfill, as well as providing consumers with another path for sustainable living,” Monty Stauffer, Kohler WasteLAB Lead Industrial Designer, Product and Process. “The sink has the look and feel of natural granite or polished stone, tying together a sense of high design with materials that previously were considered scrap. What we do at KOHLER WasteLAB is a game changer on how people will look at waste moving forward.”

Since 2017, KOHLER WasteLAB has been looking for ways to reimagine waste using nature as a model for sustainable processes – within nature’s cycle of growth and decay, waste simply doesn’t exist. At WasteLAB, we mapped out our waste streams from our products so that we could see exactly where they came from and what they were made of. We redefined waste streams as not “waste”, but as ingredients and valuable materials for new products – and most importantly, as opportunities for innovation. From 2019 through 2023, sales of KOHLER WasteLAB tile have diverted more than 73,426 pounds of waste from landfills, exemplifying Kohler's commitment to achieving net-zero waste to landfill by 2035.

About Kohler WasteLAB 
At the Kohler WasteLAB, we look for ways to see the world differently. Specifically, we look to nature as a model for sustainable processes. Through nature’s cycles of growth and decay, waste simply doesn’t exist. The WasteLAB applies such an approach in its manufacturing process, using landfill-bound pottery, wastewater sludge and other forms of waste to design and produce stunning products. The KOHLER WasteLAB is just one of the several success stories to come out of Kohler’s innovative start-up Innovation for Good (ifG). For more information, visit https://wastelab.kohler.com/.

About Kohler Co.

For 150 years, Kohler Co. has been a global leader in design and innovation, dedicated to providing gracious living through kitchen and bath products; luxury cabinetry, tile and lighting; distributed energy solutions – home energy, industrial power systems, and powertrain technologies – and luxury hospitality experiences and major championship golf. Kohler's Whistling Straits golf course hosted the 43rd Ryder Cup in 2021. Privately held Kohler Co. was founded in 1873 and is headquartered in Kohler, Wisconsin. The company also develops solutions to address pressing issues, such as clean water and sanitation, for underserved communities around the world to enhance the quality of life for current and future generations. 

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Media Contact: 
Kohler Public Relations 
Jillian Rosone 
jillian.rosone@kohler.com