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Read MoreAUSTRALIAN DESIGNED & MADE FURNITURE FOR A LIFE OUTSIDE
With our Creative Director, Susan Tait, trained as a textile designer, textiles have become an important part of our offering. Our high performance textiles (some created in collaboration with Mokum) can stand the test of time in a range of demanding Australian outdoor environments. But whilst we’re improving our processes every day, our upholstered products and protective furniture covers do create offcuts, including textile waste, threads and zips.
That’s why we’ve started investing in a paid collection service by After, to ensure our textile offcuts continue to have value, rather than becoming waste.
As part of a series of improvements across the board, our Operations & Sustainability Coordinator, Amanda Harcourt found a way to give our textile offcuts a new life. She discovered that all our offcuts can be collected and transformed into recycled materials, via a circular business called After. This incredible service collects and redistributes textile waste to their partners, who either recycle or transform textiles into new materials, creating a circular economy.
‘The offcuts are collected in our upholstery work room,’ Amanda explains. ‘The textile waste is separated from the foam waste (which is also recycled through our foam supplier, Dunlop). Each month we book in a collection with After based on the weight of textile waste we have collected.’
Our textile waste at Tait is just a small drop in a big pond. Six thousand kilograms of textiles are thrown by Australian households every 10 minutes – 1 adult-sized elephant’s worth of clothing.
So far, we’ve diverted 550kg of textile offcuts from landfill – roughly the size of a 1-year-old elephant. But every bit counts, and we’re doing what we can to play our part responsibly.
‘Our first textile collection with After was in January 2023,’ Amanda recalls. ‘We were one of the first businesses to partner with them when they launched around that time.’
“We’re thrilled to be working with such a dynamic and sustainably aligned company, whose mission is ‘to empower Australia’s participation in the circular economy by reinventing ethical textile disposal’,” says Creative Director Susan Tait. “They’ve helped us on our journey, educating us on the extent of textile waste and providing metrics that help us understand the impact of our actions.”
If you’re interested, we urge you to consider booking a textile waste pick up with After. As well as working with business, they also do household pickups for clothing (no undergarments), bed linen, upholstery, and even shoes.
Happy diverting!
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Take advantage of our free, expert design guidance for your outdoor space — in one of our showrooms or online.
Read MoreGet the recap of MDW 2026 at Tait, featuring the LUSTRE exhibition and launch of the new Swing Collection. Both have emerged from an obsession with metal – a restless, ongoing dialogue with stainless steel that sits at the heart of how we make things.
Read MoreThe beloved Swing Chair grows into a full collection. Expanding on the original’s graceful arcs, pure stainless steel construction and enduring craftsmanship, the Australian-made Swing Collection brings hardworking glamour to new seating forms and tables.
Read MoreStainless steel has much more going for it than its strength and seamless uniformity. The Tait Design Studio has been experimenting with this enduring material, with surprising results revealed at Melbourne Design Week (MDW) in the Tait Melbourne Showroom from 14–23 May.
The exhibition opens on Thursday 14 May. The official opening event for ‘Lustre’ is on Friday 15 May at 9.30am in the Tait Melbourne showroom, and the exhibition will run until 5pm Saturday 23 May. Visitors will also glimpse the new expanded Swing Collection.
Read MoreBigger, better and bolder, the new Brisbane showroom is triple the fun (in the same great location). Enjoy the full Tait experience, with more product on show in expansive settings.
Read MoreJoin us at the Correa Table, where Food For Everyone’s Gemma Leslie explores the idea of the ‘anti-host’ that invites guests to roll up their sleeves and get involved.
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