Environ: a New Age Biocomposite

Environ is a composite panel comprised of 40% recycled newspaper, 40% soy flour, and 20% other ingredients: mostly colorants plus a proprietary water-based catalyst that converts the soy flour into a resin. The resultant product is hard with the looks of polished granite and the workability of wood.

Primary applications for Environ include “contract furniture” (restaurant tables, computer workstations, etc.), residential and custom furniture, transaction counters for retail stores, decorative trim on retail store facades, and the specialty market of awards and plaques. In the retail store countertop market there is potential for dramatic growth. Architect Gary Marotta of the Boston firm Elkus Manfredi Architects Ltd. specified Environ for the counters at two HMV Record stores and has proposed it for their international store prototype.