Retail Architecture & Design interviews the CEO and Co-founder of HONEXT® about material innovation, circular construction and the future of sustainable architecture.
The transition to a circular built environment requires more than new technologies. It demands a different way of thinking about materials, manufacturing and design. As architects, designers and brands increasingly look for low-carbon and healthy solutions, circular materials are becoming a key driver of innovation across sustainable architecture and interior design.
In an exclusive interview with Retail Architecture & Design, Pol Merino, CEO and Co-founder of HONEXT®, shares the company’s vision for the future of circular materials. He explains how HONEXT® transforms paper industry waste into high-performance interior boards, discusses the company’s industrial growth following the recent European Investment Bank (EIB) financing and strategic partnership with WEPA, and reflects on the role of sustainable materials in shaping the future of architecture. The interview also highlights the growing importance of Cradle to Cradle Certified® Gold, Material Health Certificate™ Gold, and building certifications such as LEED, BREEAM, and WELL, which increasingly influence material selection in contemporary construction projects.
Interview with Pol Merino, CEO & Co-founder of HONEXT®
Q. What problem were you trying to solve when you founded HONEXT?
Pol Merino:
The paper industry, in its effort to be more circular, generates a growing residue – fibres that have reached the end of their useful life and cannot re-enter the paper cycle. Where the industry saw a low-value residue, we saw something different: a stable, abundant raw material that could be transformed into a rigid panel.
Q. The EIB invested €22.4M alongside WEPA Germany. What does that mean?
Pol Merino:
It means we make the leap to industrial scale that a project like HONEXT needs to be a real solution — not a laboratory piece. Transformative materials are only truly transformative when they are available at the scale that real projects demand. It also allows us to multiply an environmental impact that is already measured and verified.
Q. What can HONEXT do that conventional materials cannot?
Pol Merino:
HONEXT is light — it can be machined, milled, perforated, curved, coated or left exposed. Certified Cradle to Cradle Gold and Material Health Gold. We spend more than 90% of our time indoors — the quality of air in those spaces has a direct impact on our health. Material Health scores directly in LEED, BREEAM and WELL.
Q. What are the current limits — what can you not yet execute?
Pol Merino:
Today we are focused on interior architecture and temporary furniture. The next step is permanent furniture — we still need the thicknesses and industrial volume to serve that sector reliably. It is exactly the type of limit that the industrial leap with WEPA is designed to resolve.
Q. Are Inditex, LVMH and Hermès arriving at HONEXT — or do you have to find them?
Pol Merino:
Both things. Many brands arrive directly because they are interested in our proposition, and others we go to find. The interest from the premium and luxury segment is real and growing — their ESG commitments are not cosmetic and they need concrete solutions to fulfil them. What happens is that in this sector the final decision passes through many hands: the brand acts as prescriptor, but there is a whole industry between them that transforms our materials into the final products installed in their spaces.
Q. Can a sustainable material compete aesthetically with marble, noble wood or brass?
Pol Merino:
HONEXT is versatile and admits very different finishes — so technically, yes. But the more interesting question for us is different. We believe the future of HONEXT is not to look like marble or noble wood. It is to be desirable and chosen for what it is — a new material, with its own aesthetic language and its own identity.
Q. What space would you like to see built with HONEXT?
Pol Merino:
I do not dream of a specific flagship or a specific brand. I dream of a different scenario: that the day comes when designing a space with circular materials is normal and not the exception. Success will not be appearing in one more flagship. It will be the sector stopping its default dependence on virgin materials when alternatives already exist.
The interview reflects a fundamental shift taking place across the construction and interior design industries. Circular materials are no longer considered niche alternatives. Instead, they are becoming essential solutions for architects, designers and brands seeking to reduce carbon emissions while creating healthier buildings.
At HONEXT®, this vision is translated into 100% recyclable interior boards manufactured from recovered paper industry fibres using a carbon-negative production process. Certified C2C Certified®Full Scope Gold and C2C Certified® Material Health Gold, HONEXT® helps projects meet the requirements of internationally recognised sustainability schemes such as LEED, BREEAM, and WELL, while supporting companies in achieving their ESG objectives.
Supported by the recent investment from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the industrial partnership with WEPA, HONEXT® is scaling its production to accelerate the transition towards circular construction. By transforming waste into high-performance building materials, the company demonstrates how innovation, circularity and material health can shape the next generation of sustainable architecture.