Orangebox and Camira Launch Wool Circle: A Circular Textile Born from Craft and Sustainability

Orangebox is proud to announce the launch of Wool Circle, a pioneering new textile that turns upholstery offcuts into beautifully crafted, high-performance wool fabrics. Developed in partnership with leading textile innovator Camira, this collaboration marks a significant step forward in the furniture industry’s journey toward circularity and low-impact design.

 

The current system for producing, distributing and using textiles operates in an almost completely linear fashion, with less than 1% of all textiles worldwide being recycled into new product. While clothing and the modern culture of fast fashion, is a large contributor to the textile waste mountain, furniture textiles also add to the increasing amount of fabric waste. It’s estimated that 25% of the fabric used in the furniture manufacturing process ends up on the cutting table floor as offcuts, destined for landfill, downcycling or incineration.

 

At the heart of Wool Circle is a commitment to closing the loop. Historically, Orangebox’s production offcuts of Camira’s Blazer and Synergy wool fabrics would be sent for end-of-life processing via waste-to-energy. Instead, they’re now remanufactured into a new textile, made with 50% recycled content. This significantly reduces the need for virgin material inputs, reduces emissions from waste processing, saves on dyeing, and dramatically lowers the carbon footprint of the final product.

 

“A core aim of the circular economy is keeping the materials invested in our products at their highest quality for as long as possible,” said Gareth Banks, Head of Sustainability at Orangebox.

“Innovations like Wool Circle help us move closer to that aim — reducing our carbon impact and reliance on finite resources, while celebrating the craftsmanship that gives each piece a second life.”

The Wool Circle journey begins at Orangebox’s South Wales factory, where offcuts are carefully sorted and returned to Camira’s West Yorkshire headquarters via the same delivery fleet used to supply new fabrics. There, the scraps are transformed by Camira’s specialist wool recycling team, iinouiio, a company with deep roots in Yorkshire’s textile heritage and wool recycling known as ‘shoddy manufacturing’. Through a combination of traditional techniques and modern machinery, the wool is pulled apart, blended with virgin fibres, and rewoven into a felted textile ready for commercial furniture applications.

 

“Wool Circle represents everything we believe in at Camira, preserving the beauty and value of natural materials through design innovation and responsible manufacturing,” said Jodie Padgett, Innovations Manager at Camira.

 

“In working with Orangebox to implement a closed-loop system, we’re demonstrating how scalable textile-to-textile recycling can be when two values-aligned organisations come together and push boundaries.”

 

Wool Circle is now available in ten colourways, seven of which have been exclusively curated for Orangebox by designer Rhonda Drakeford. Suitable for task chairs, soft seating and acoustic pods, it combines aesthetic appeal with commercial-grade performance, backed by a 10-year guarantee.

 

Lifecycle assessment data from Huddersfield University reveals that compared to 100% virgin wool, Wool Circle offers:

 

• 58% lower carbon footprint
• 58% reduction in fossil fuel use
• 78% lower water consumption

 

As circularity becomes a defining metric of good design, Wool Circle shows how innovation, craft, and collaboration can reshape the future of material use within the office furniture sector.

 

For more information see our brochure, or get in touch with your Orangebox representative.