Currency manufacturers around the world are forever battling counterfeiters. For example, before the UK introduced its new pound coins in 2017, early versions were easily counterfeited, with tens of millions of fraudulent coins in circulation. The same goes for banknotes, which over the years have been printed with more and more high-tech features, such as holograms, watermarks and unique material blends. Recently, many countries have also implemented plastic coatings.
The Bank of France, Europe’s main currency producer, has adopted a technology called EverFit, which involves applying a polymer coating to cotton-blend banknotes to improve durability. Up to three billion banknotes can be printed each year, but they must adhere to the strictest technical quality standards. If you don’t, they’ll get torn apart. One drawback, however, is that they are not recyclable. That’s where Parisian furniture design studio Maximum saw a unique opportunity.
Maximum’s unique stool range, called Billex, repurposes large amounts of discarded banknotes into modern, functional objects. With a cotton base and two plastic coatings, these tiny pieces can be treated with heat and compressed into a hard shape. Not only is the stool itself a functional and stylish design piece, available in a variety of colours, but the Billex concept is also a prototype. It can be used in a wide range of applications, as the shredded banknotes and the stool itself can be upcycled and compressed into almost any shape.
See more on Maximum’s Instagram.
