Out of sight, out of mind, waste continues to pile up indefinitely in Jakarta’s landfills.
A silent and growing giant of environmental despair. One Depok-born furniture brand responds to this call with a mission to encourage people to confront the reality of climate change and reimagine the role of waste in everyday life. By recasting plastic bottle caps as chic furniture, Dit Réveille lives up to their name— French for “said wake up”— a fitting reminder that design can be both an alarm bell and an answer.
Founded by two friends from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Affan Naufal and Amanda Prita Kirana, the brand combines entrepreneurial drive with creative vision to build a sustainability-led enterprise grounded in the philosophy that waste can hold value, design can inspire responsibility, and sustainability should be a practical solution rather than a distant aspiration. Dit Réveille’s innovation turns scraps into statement pieces by taking the humble plastic bottle cap and transforming it into sleek panels for stools, tables, lamps—even a makeshift chair for your cat to play with.
The journey did not begin with bottle caps alone; it started when Affan and his team, partnering with their cousin Dema Saputra, who runs a grassroots scrapyard (lapak rongsokan), observed that the profit margin from selling caps was painfully low at only IDR 1,000–2,000 per kilogram, despite the significant effort of waste collectors.
By shredding, melting, and pressing the caps into panels, Dit Réveille multiplied their value. These panels became the foundation for furniture, lighting, and merchandise that redefined what upcycling could mean., and appreciate the efforts put into collecting this waste more deservingly.
“It’s not recycling,” Affan emphasises. “Rather, it is upcycling by transforming the material into something with a far higher value than before.”
The production is pretty straightforward. After being sorted by colour, the caps are then washed in a simple machine, then dried and shredded. The next step is mixing the shredded materials to create a blend of colour-pattern that fits the brand’s design vision, before being melted in ovens and pressed into panels. These panels can be engraved with CNC machines or passed on to furniture makers, often combined with recycled plywood or Dutch teak to add strength and texture. It is this union of mixed materials that sets the brand apart from others.
Where many labels either rely entirely on plastic or stick rigidly to wood and metal, Dit Réveille creates a dialogue between materials: foldable tables that blend recycled plywood with upcycled plastic panels; stools that are compact yet stylish; and lamps that turn waste into storytelling. This hybrid approach not only elevates the aesthetic but also lowers the barrier to entry where consumers don’t need to commit to 100 per cent recycled furniture to make a difference. Dit Réveille introduces sustainability to a new audience by inviting them to take the first step towards conscious living without sacrificing practicality or beauty.
The brand’s signature piece, the Urbaine stool, embodies compact living with its foldable frame and lightweight structure. Crafted from a clever blend of upcycled plastic panels and recycled plywood, it is portable, easy to store, and tailored to the realities of urban rentals. For pet lovers, Le Chatool adds a playful twist. What other stool doubles as a cat scratcher and cosy hideaway for your feline friends? This unique invention proves that sustainable designs can be practical, pet-friendly and fun.
Perhaps the way this brand markets their product also deserves recognition. Dit Réveille experiments with storytelling through materials. Dans Le Septième, inspired by the lumberjack district of The Hunger Games, combines salvaged sungkai wood with plastic panels. This union of two contrasting elements demonstrates that sustainable furniture doesn’t mean abandoning natural materials but finding harmony between the old and the new. Meanwhile, the lamp La Belle et Le Noir, drawing on the resilience of Black Beauty, casts light as both an object and a metaphor, symbolising endurance through hardship as an ‘enlightening’ companion to whoever uses it. These pieces may well be the perfect conduit for those who want to express their character through design in their homes.
When asked which piece best represents Dit Réveille, Affan points to Urbaine. Compact yet iconic, it is positioned as the brand’s statement product– one concept executed to perfection on which the brand can build its reputation. Looking forward, they also plan to expand the line with Urbaine Lite, a more affordable version, as well as an Urbaine table. These variations reinforce the stool’s status as the cornerstone of the collection.
Beyond design, Dit Réveille is committed to empowering waste collectors and scavengers. The team supports sorting initiatives, ensuring grassroots workers benefit directly from the upcycling movement. Corporate partnerships, including collaborations with Bank Indonesia and CIMB, have further amplified their reach. Studio 99 also played a key role in introducing Dit Réveille’s merchandise to a wider corporate audience.
“The interest is growing,” Affan reflects. “More people are becoming environmentally and socially conscious of their consumption habits. They’re beginning to ask not just what they’re buying, but why.”
In the next three to five years, Affan hopes for a shift in the sustainable furniture landscape, where high mark-ups will fade, giving way to fairer margins and greater accessibility. “Sustainable products should not be a luxury,” he insists. “They should be a necessity, something everyone can afford and embrace.”
Affan believes conscious design plays a crucial role in shaping consumer behaviour. “It starts with understanding what people need now and what they imagine for their future. Every purchase becomes a reflection; have I used something like this before, and what will I use in the future? It’s not just about function, but identity.”
@ditreveille | ditreveille.com
