Edinburgh Napier University

  We’re looking to develop a pet bedding design from re-used bedding material (Sheets, Duvets, Mattresses & Pillows). The idea is to make a product that is highly functional in nature and also well designed to be in line with the premium positioning of our brand. This is a project that is multi-disciplinary. We need a team that approaches the problem with an open mindset combining product design, understanding of textile, other materials and waste retrieval while keeping a sense of aesthetics. Such collaboration is difficult to bring together in a commercial environment.

The new product would need thinking from scratch. We haven’t come across any major product developers in this space. It will be a novel use of extensive amount of bedding waste that today ends up in landfill while it could have been put to use in a much better way.

Products which ‘upcycle’ the sorts of textiles which are usually not reusable such as mattress covers, pillows, duvets and bedding are few and far between. A pet bed seems like one such solution to the use of these textiles. In addition to this, turning textiles from only being ‘soft’ (with the limits to what can be done with them) to a hard, solid usable material is also somewhat novel. This project proposes to create a prototype solid sheet material, utilizing the academic team’s previous expertise in 3D printing with textiles and embedding materials in eco-resins.