Cadillac has gone all-out to trim its new Optiq SUV in sustainable materials, including a cabin veneer made from recycled newspaper.
PaperWood is made up of equal parts tulip wood and recycled newspaper. In fact, if you look closely, you can actually see letters from the newspaper print embedded in the wood veneer.
Nina Cho, a colors, materials and finish designer that worked on the OPTIQ, explains that it’s the result of years of research and development:
“The PaperWood veneer is made by repeatedly stacking the thin layer of the dark tulip wood with the recycled newspaper, and then they essentially mill the laminates for use in the car from the stack, so that’s why you can see the newsprint letters in the white grain part,” Cho said.
“What’s really special and unique about this process is that the veneer is made up of different newspapers, so each trim piece is entirely unique to that vehicle.”
If PaperWood sounds familiar, it’s because we wrote about it in 2012 — when Peugeot featured it in its Onyx concept car. At the time, it was called “NewspaperWood” and developed in partnership with Dutch design firm Vij5.
Back then, everyone thought “NewspaperWood” was a quirky idea that likely wouldn’t amount to much. Now, 13 years later, it’s being used in thousands of cars across the world.
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