Mexican architecture firm Paola Calzada Arquitectos produces its line of robust flat-pack furniture using recycled plastic bottles and wood-fibre material valchromat.

Made in Mexico under the brand name Luken, the line of furniture includes a series of side tables as well as chairs and tables for children that can be assembled without nails or glue.

The pieces are made from either 100 per cent recycled plastic bottles melted down into boards or 12-millimetre-thick panels of valchromat – a through-coloured MDF material made from wood harvested from sustainably certified forests in Portugal.

The panels of plastic board or valchromat simply slot together to form the pieces. The furniture made from valchromat is designed for use inside only, while the recycled plastic furniture is resistant to sunlight, water and heavy use and therefore robust enough to be used both inside and out.

"No chemicals are added in the manufacturing process of our materials," said the brand. "After cutting the boards, the result is flat pieces that are simply assembled in the client's house. No nails or glue are required."

"Products can be sent to all parts of the world and flight services are not expensive due to the flat package," they added.

Concerned about plastic pollution and its effect on the environment, the Mexico City firm's founder architect Paola Calzada Prats, started producing the furniture in order to help reduce plastic in the ocean and to promote awareness of the problem among younger generations.

"We are fed up with the images of garbage floating in the sea, and decided to take the tip of the iceberg and give it a better future," the brand said.

"We are literally swimming in plastic, it's been proven that there are micro particles of plastic in the fish we eat, and bottles from Mexican products have been dragged by sea currents as far as the coast of the UK."

To this date, Luken said it has recycled up to 80,000 plastic bottles preventing them from ending up in rivers, lakes and oceans. Each piece in the collection recycles approximately 600 bottles made from polyethylene.

Earlier this year Antwerp-based brand Ecobirdy debuted a range of colourful kids' furniture made from recycled plastic toys. With an overarching goal of introducing children to the circular economy, all the pieces from Ecobirdy's collection are completely recyclable.

Photography is by Marta Kowalska and Hernan Peña.