Industrial design
Material Research
End of life

Challenge

Baked is a circular snowboard made of renewable materials and designed to have its components separated at the end of its life cycle, allowing each component to be processed in the best possible way.

Alarmed by the toxicity of the composite materials used in the sport equipment industry, for the past 8 years we have been researching how to create a bio-composite material able to combine performance with low environmental impact. We have been exploring these new material combinations, keeping in mind the existing manufacturing techniques, trying to advance towards greener alternatives for standard processes.

Result

We are collaborating with material innovation companies at the forefront of natural fibre composites, with the goal of  creating a fully circular and industrially compostable snowboard. To achieve this, at OnMateria we have designed the board with a wood core, layers of interwoven natural flax fibers and bio-based thermoplastics. The cutting-edge plastics are combined with the wood core and the fibres through heat, hence the name of the board, Baked.

But there are still parts of the board that can not be replaced with composable materials; the edge, the fasteners or the base. Baked has been designed for allowing the disassembly of each part of the board. Its new construction will allow each component to be treated separately at the end of life and, more importantly, allows a repair approach for the maintenance and the extension of the useful life of the board.

The use of natural materials gives the perfect balance between stiffness and flexibility for a smooth ride.