Circular design
Geert Doorlag | Auping
From the start of his work at Royal Auping (2009), Geert Doorlag was involved in developing the innovation of mattresses. That started with Cradle to Cradle (2009) based on Michael Braungart and a radically different vision of the interpretation of concepts such as product and quality. It was followed up by the 'Products That Last' project, initiated by Delft University of Technology, in which various circular business models were explored and analyzed with companies. This led to the book of the same name in which a sharper interpretation was formulated of the 'butterfly' model for the circular economy of the Ellen Mc Arthur Foundation and the CIRCO tracks, which are offered via CLICKNL.
Auping continued to develop the chosen path with the ambition of a fully circular production process. Following a request from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management in 2018, Geert has been involved in setting up an Extended Products Responsibility for mattresses together with industry peers. At the beginning of 2022, this led to the Dutch Matras Recycling Foundation, which in the coming years must ensure that a large share of the mattresses discarded in the Netherlands is recycled to a high standard. The ultimate ambition being: from mattress to mattress.
Geert Doorlag is researcher at Royal Auping and focuses on two strategic topics: sleep and sustainability. Trained at the Technical University of Delft as an Industrial Designer (MSc 2008), he has been working at Auping since 2009, first as a product developer, then as a test and validation engineer and in recent years as a researcher.
