What does 93 hard hats look like when they don’t end up in landfill? WATCH VIDEO

They look like a full-size school table top. Solid. Waterproof. Colourful. Made from nothing but construction waste.

This is what happens when Critical. recycled expired hard hats and give them a second life.

No fillers. No MDF. Just pure 100% recycled plastics, reshaped into something useful.

We’ve started working with our mates at Watercare Services Limited and schools across Aotearoa.

Here’s how the programme works:

Construction companies send us their retired hard hats

We turn them into high-durability Cleanstone panels

Schools receive free or subsidised table tops built to survive classroom chaos

Every panel is different.

The colours? That’s the trace of a site.

The dents? A reminder of the hands that built something before.

And now it lives on in a school, where kids can trace their fingers across the stories.

Over 100,000 hard hats are thrown out each year in NZ

MDF swells and fails under pressure in school environments over time.

Cleanstone is waterproof, solid all the way through, and 100% recycled

Carbon emissions are reduced by up to 90% compared to virgin plastic

If you're a school looking for durable materials

Or a construction partner ready to do something better with your waste—

Let's kōrero!

Visit criticaldesign.nz or drop me a DM.

Ngā mihi nui mahana Watercare Services Limited, Shaye Va-Alatini and Bernice Chiam for backing partnering with us and backing this pilot.

Kia ora koutou nzsafetyblackwoods, Fletcher Living, Nicola Tagiston, UPTEX and Spacebar Design and many more I forgot to mention for supporting this initiative. You are all legends.

#circulardesign #lowcarbonmaterials #schooldesign #sustainabledesign #constructionwaste #nzdesign #australiandesign #architecture #interiordesign #designforimpact #cleanstone #criticaldesign