wasted collection by max lamb and potato head brings circular design to life in bali

toward near-zero waste to landfill in bali

British designer Max Lamb works with creative hub Potato Head along with Balinese craftspeople to create the Wasted collection entirely from recycled materials like plastic, glass, and bamboo. Conceived as part of Potato Head’s broader commitment to sustainability, the project transforms discarded matter into durable furniture and homeware, demonstrating that waste can serve as a refined starting point for design.

Launched within Potato Head’s Desa in Seminyak, Bali, Wasted extends the company’s mission to reach 97.5% zero waste to landfill. The pieces are shaped through a closed-loop process, ensuring that each object is at once functional and embedded with the story of its materials and the people who made it.

Plastic Family | images © Adrian Morris

potato head supports local craft with a global vision

Max Lamb approached the Wasted commission with the intention of sourcing entirely within a fifty-mile radius of the Potato Head village, integrating traditional techniques and regional resources into the collection. Visits to small workshops and craft studios across the island informed the designs, from bamboo lounge chairs to ceramic teapots. This immersion shaped a body of work that respects Balinese craft heritage and meets the needs of the modern hospitality space.

The Wasted collection includes eight discreet families:

Plastic Family, composed of 100% recycled HDPE oil and juice jugs.

Compost Dye Family, composed of 100% torn and worn bed linens from the Potato Head Studio and Suites.

Rag Rug, also composed of 100% used linen sheets.

Broken Glass Family, composed of 100% recycled glass, including construction & industrial glass waste and used bottles from the Potato Head restaurant.

Cooking Oil Family, which includes beeswax candles composed of recycled glass and scents developed by Rumah Atsiri, based on Potato Head kitchen waste.

Broken Ceramic Family, composed of 100% local clay with custom glazing developed from recycled crushed glass.

Styroshell Family is composed of recycled styrofoam, shredded oyster shell from the Potato Head restaurant, recycled residue powder sourced from a local waste incinerator, shredded HDPE from guests’ single use plastic bottle caps, and acrylic coloring.

Bali Bamboo Family is composed of 100% organic treated bamboo with synthetic rattan lashing for flexibility and durability.

All materials are derived directly from Indonesian waste streams. The first iteration of the Study Chair (Plastic Family), was created with materials sourced Smile Plastic — a brand from the UK that recycles British post-industrial plastic waste from the cosmetic and food industries. In this final collection, the Study Chair is produced entirely from local waste.

Styroshell Family

max lamb leads the ‘wasted’ collection’s desgin

The Wasted collection embraces variation, with each piece adapting to the waste resources available at the moment of production. No two items are identical, as colors, textures, and forms respond to the nature of the salvaged materials. Local artisans cut, assemble, and finish each product by hand, creating work that balances precision with the inherent irregularities of manual craftsmanship.

For Max Lamb, designing with waste required not only practical adjustments but also a broader responsibility to justify every object’s existence. By framing waste as a valuable and finite resource, he emphasizes longevity, durability, and the importance of products that hold emotional as well as functional value.

Potato Head’s goal for Wasted extends beyond its own operations. The brand aims to build a global network of partners who can adapt the collection’s designs to their own local waste streams. This approach ensures that the principles of circularity are not bound to a single geography but can be scaled through regional adaptation.

Bali Bamboo Family + Compost Dye Family