DKG introduces biobased kitchen

A first for the kitchen market! From now on it is possible to order a bio-based kitchen from DKG brands Bruynzeel Keukens and Keller Keukens. Special, because the sheet material used is not available on the market ready-made. By bringing together the right suppliers, the innovative kitchen manufacturer has succeeded in creating a bio-based interior panel suitable for serial production, from their own location in Bergen op Zoom.

MDF with sunflower seeds

The base material is an MDF made entirely from residual streams from the wood industry. This means that no trees are cut down for its production. Thus, additional CO₂-emissions avoided. But it doesn't stop there. Conventional MDF contains a binder made from fossil, environmentally damaging materials. With DKG's biobased kitchen, that is a thing of the past. The binder of the highly sustainable kitchen comes from organic residues from the food industry, namely sunflower seeds and rapeseed. Renewable! The protein concentrate from these plants appears to work particularly well as a binding agent for sheet material in the interior industry.

Durable HPL

With another supplier, DKG found the right topcoat. An HPL (High Pressure Laminate) made from kraft paper and a bio-based resin instead of phenolic resin. This makes the kitchen free of phenol and formaldehyde, a chemical that gives off an unpleasant odor. Kraft paper is already commonly used for biodegradable packaging, among other things. It is made from the paper pulp derived from coniferous trees. The biological resin used is made from bagasse, the residue of sugar cane when all the sugar has been extracted. 

The result is an organic sheet material from renewable raw materials that are much less environmentally damaging than traditional materials. Because they absorb CO₂ storage and because production is often more energy efficient than traditional materials, CO₂ footprint substantially smaller. And by using HPL, the kitchen will last at least 25 years.

Circular process

Currently, DKG already has a circular kitchen process for kitchens made from particleboard. Old kitchens are collected and converted by the circular processor into new raw materials for their largest chipboard supplier. The company is now exploring how biobased kitchens, too, can soon be collected to make new raw materials.

With the introduction of the biobased kitchen, DKG is taking an important step toward its goal of 100% biobased products 2030.