Edwin Van Der Goes
Edwin
Edwin Van Der Goes, based in Bussum (the Netherlands), is founder and owner of Donkersloot. Donkersloot is a company that produces professional carpets, rugs and carpet tiles. Edwin experienced a drive to insert flexibility and innovation in the carpet industry. This drive to move innovation along caused him to start his own company, Donkersloot, and launch his first collection in 2008.
About
The present carpet industry is in most cases assembly industry, as a producer Donkersloot stimulates the complete chain to develop and produce carpets, rugs and carpet tiles according to the ideas that live with the Donkersloot organization. They hereby stimulate design as well as sustainable development of carpets. The flexible organization works with external specialist within and outside the industry and is therefore quick, flexible, and innovative with a strong drive for all that participates in new developments.
Goal
Edwin’s goal is to make carpets that will be used for as long as possible. At present carpets in hotels and offices are used for 5-7 years whereas they’re made to last for 25-30 years. The responsibility for a producer in a circular economy is to design in a way that products are easy to dismantle at the end of their lifecycle, produced from sustainable resources and stimulate extension of the period of use. Because producing, consuming and throwing away no longer works.
How
By challenging partners to innovate and to use their expertise to find new solutions so that carpets can be reused better and can also be taken apart more easily. All this in order to be able to use the processed raw materials for as long as possible.
Hope
According to Edwin, the biggest challenge is to see that recycling in itself from product to product won’t make a difference, we have to think in recycling from resource to resource, and to extend the lifespan of every product. Thus, society needs to change the way it consumes. Edwin hopes that younger generations will value different forms of status. He hopes for a mindset change where status comes from how sustainable someone is and not what kind of car they drive or how expensive it is. By having an open and honest approach to circularity we can really change the world.
Want to learn more about what Edwin does at Donkersloot? You can find out more here.