News room

ITOKI CORPORATION (headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Koji Minato) has jointly developed the "UMILE Chair" with Unilever Japan Customer Marketing Co., Ltd. (headquarters: Meguro-ku, Tokyo; CEO and President: Joy Ho; hereinafter "Unilever Japan"), which utilizes used plastic bottles such as shampoo bottles collected through the "UMILE Program," an eco-point program implemented by Unilever Japan. The company delivered the chair to the company's newly renovated head office on Tuesday, May 7th.

We have continued to develop products that contribute to the realization of a recycling-oriented society, such as by utilizing recycled materials, eliminating plastic from components, and designing products for a long life.

The "UMILE Chair" delivered this time was developed based on the Torte U Chair, which combines functionality and sustainability. The back of the chair is made of 10% recycled polyethylene resin derived from used shampoo and other bottles collected through the "UMILE Program" implemented by Unilever Japan in 2020. In addition, the cover that can be placed over the back and seat cushions is knitted with polyester fibers recycled from used bottles. By dyeing it in Unilever's corporate color blue, Lux's brand color gold, and Dove's brand color light blue, it is expressed that this chair was born from Unilever's unique efforts.

The Torte U Chair has traditionally used sustainable fabric made from 100% recycled fiber from discarded PET bottles, which reduces CO2 emissions during production by approximately 41% compared to general virgin polyester fabrics. By using recycled materials for the back of the chair, we can expect to further reduce the environmental impact.

We will continue to work with Unilever Japan to explore ways to utilize recycled materials.

The "UMILE Program" was launched by Unilever Japan in November 2020 as a program that allows consumers to take action for Planet in a fun and economical way in their daily lives. In this program, consumers can earn "UMILE" points in two ways: by buying Unilever refill products, which use approximately 70-90% less plastic than bottled products, and by putting plastic containers that have been washed and dried after use at home into collection boxes at partner stores. Collected UMILE points can be exchanged for LINE points or donated to organizations working for children (1 UMILE = 20 LINE points or a donation of 20 yen). As of January 2024, the number of registered users of the official LINE account was 1.14 million, there were 150 collection centers for used plastic containers at retail stores and train stations, the number of UMILEs collected was approximately 150,000 miles, and the amount of containers collected was approximately 170 kg.
https://www2.unilever.co.jp/umile/ecocp.html

torteU is a compact office chair that combines ITOKI's unique "dual motion rocking" mechanism, styling that fits into modern office spaces, and sustainability that puts no strain on Planet environment.
The simple shell chair styling, all-one-tone color, and ceramic-like textured back shell create a smart, emotive, and comfortable design that fits in with modern office spaces.