Designing Sustainable Furniture

Why We Use Steel at Ico Traders

At Ico Traders, we choose steel for good reason. It’s one of the most recyclable, durable, and responsible materials available today. Steel is strong, adaptable, and can be recycled without losing quality.

1. Steel Is Infinitely Recyclable

Steel can be recycled again and again, and it never loses its strength. Unlike plastics or wood composites, it doesn’t degrade over time.

Your old stool could one day become part of a building, a bike frame, or another piece of furniture. Steel is 100% recyclable and requires less energy to recycle than to create from raw materials.

By designing with steel, we help support a circular economy—less waste, more reuse, and smarter design.

2. Our Steel Furniture Is Built to Last

Good design lasts. At Ico Traders, durability is sustainability. Our wire furniture is made to live long, full lives both indoors and outdoors.

• Spot welded by hand for precision and strength

• PVDF base coat for corrosion and heat resistance

• Powder-coated finish to protect against rust and UV

• Easy to recoat or refresh with new colours

• Lightweight enough to move, strong enough to stay

From the Devonport Chair to the Hokianga Hanging Chair, each piece is built for years of enjoyment—not landfill.

3. Steel Means Low Maintenance and High Reward

We make our furniture using mild steel, stainless steel, or aluminium. All three materials are easy to care for and simple to repurpose.

• Got scratches? Touch them up.
• Want a new colour? We can organise a new powdercoat for you.
• Changing spaces? Move it from the kitchen to the deck, or from the hallway to the garden.

4. We Design for Reuse

Our pieces aren’t glued, stapled, or chemically sealed. They’re built in simple, honest forms that are easy to maintain or refresh and pass on.

If you’re ready to part ways, we encourage you to re-home your preloved Ico Traders furniture on our website. This keeps it in circulation and out of landfill.

Nothing this good should end up in the bin.

Find out more about rehoming your Ico Traders furniture here

5. Local Design, Low Waste Thinking

We design everything in New Zealand with sustainability in mind from the very first sketch.

• Minimal waste in our wire forms

• Small batch runs to avoid overproduction

• Flat pack shipping wherever possible

• Recyclable packaging for every order

Every decision we make is intentional, and every piece is built to go the distance.

Designing Sustainable Steel Furniture

Sustainability isn’t just about what a design is made from. It’s about how long it lasts, how easily it adapts, and what happens at the end of its life. Steel ticks every box.

When you choose Ico Traders, you choose:

• Timeless design

• Durable materials

• Repair, not replace

• Responsibly made furniture that keeps giving

• Guilt free furniture

Want to know more? Discover Ico Traders’ sustainability journey here.