GOMI describes itself as a small independent company from Brighton, with its studio located in the city’s North Laine area.[1]

GOMI emerged from the intersection of industrial design, sustainability, and the zero-waste movement.

The company was founded in 2018 after designer Tom Meades, a University of Brighton design graduate, began experimenting with discarded plastic bags and other waste materials. According to Social Supermarket, entrepreneurs Pawan Saunya, Rishi Gupta, and Kyle Brackenfield encountered Meades’ work and subsequently joined forces with him to develop a business focused on addressing waste in the technology industry.[3]

GOMI initially attracted attention for its colourful, marbled Bluetooth speakers made from plastic waste. The company subsequently expanded its concept into other forms of consumer electronics and accessories.[4]

Rather than treating recycled material merely as an environmentally preferable substitute, GOMI made the material itself part of the visual identity of the product. The resulting products often feature swirling, multicoloured patterns, meaning that individual pieces can have distinctive appearances.

GOMI’s founding team has been reported as comprising:

• Tom Meades — designer and material/product innovator
• Pawan Saunya
• Rishi Gupta
• Kyle Brackenfield

The founding group brought together product design and entrepreneurial experience, with a shared interest in applying circular-economy principles to consumer technology.[3]

Tom Meades has been particularly associated with GOMI’s product and design direction. An interview published in 2020 described the company as having evolved from its original recycled-plastic speaker concept into a broader sustainable-product business.[4]

Speakers

Speakers were among GOMI’s earliest and most recognisable products. The company developed portable Bluetooth speakers using recycled flexible plastics, including materials that conventional recycling systems can struggle to process. GOMI has also used repurposed batteries recovered from damaged e-bikes.[1]

The speakers are particularly recognisable for their handmade marbled plastic shells, with each piece potentially having a different pattern.

Power banks

GOMI produces portable power banks whose outer shells are made using recycled flexible plastics such as materials derived from packaging and other waste streams.[1] The company positions these products as an alternative to conventional mass-produced electronics, emphasising repairability and longevity rather than planned replacement.

Wireless chargers

Wireless charging products form another part of GOMI’s electronics range. The brand’s current collection lists wireless chargers alongside power banks, cables, and other accessories.

Cables and phone cases

GOMI has expanded into everyday electronics accessories, including charging cables and phone cases. Its current product range describes these products in terms of durability and longevity, consistent with its broader “buy less, choose better” philosophy.

Bags

More recently, GOMI has also applied its waste-material philosophy to bags. Its tote bags use recycled fabrics from retired courier uniforms, including materials from Deliveroo and Just Eat jackets. The bags are handmade in the UK and designed around durability, repairability, and one-of-a-kind aesthetics.[1]

Some limited-edition bags are individually produced, meaning that only one example of a particular design may be available.[1]

One of GOMI’s defining characteristics is its use of materials that would traditionally have been considered difficult or uneconomical to recycle.

Recycled plastics

GOMI has worked with flexible plastics, including waste such as plastic bags, packaging, and bubble wrap. These materials can be problematic for conventional recycling systems, making them particularly relevant to GOMI’s circular-design model.[3]

Instead of hiding the recycled content, GOMI deliberately makes it visible. The resulting colours and patterns become part of the product’s aesthetic.

Second-life batteries

The company has also used second-life lithium-ion batteries, particularly batteries recovered from damaged or discarded e-bike battery packs. These batteries are tested before being incorporated into products.[1] This approach addresses two waste streams simultaneously: discarded plastics and batteries that still have useful capacity.

Repairability is central to GOMI’s philosophy. The company argues that electronics should not automatically become waste when one component fails. Its products are designed around modularity and replaceable components, allowing damaged parts to be repaired or replaced rather than requiring the entire product to be discarded.

GOMI describes this philosophy as “circular lifespans”. Its current product messaging also promotes a “Repairs For Life” approach, alongside warranties for its products.[1] This distinguishes GOMI from the traditional consumer-electronics model in which a product may effectively reach the end of its useful life when a battery or other individual component fails.

GOMI’s design philosophy can be summarised through several principles:

• Waste as a resource — materials normally considered rubbish become raw materials.
• Design for longevity — products are intended to remain useful for years.
• Repair rather than replace — components can be repaired or replaced.
• Visible sustainability — recycled materials are deliberately incorporated into the visual design.
• Individuality — handmade recycled materials mean that products can have unique patterns.
• Local production — GOMI emphasises manufacturing and craftsmanship in Brighton and the UK.
• Buy less, choose better — the company encourages purchasing fewer, longer-lasting products.[1]

GOMI has developed a distinctive visual language around bright colours, swirling patterns, and recycled-material textures. This is important to the brand because sustainability is not presented solely as a functional or ethical attribute. Instead, GOMI attempts to make recycled material desirable and aesthetically distinctive.

Its products can therefore be recognised by their colourful, irregular surfaces. Because waste materials are processed and combined manually, the resulting patterns vary from product to product. GOMI describes this concept as “One of One”: an individual design may never be reproduced exactly.[2]

GOMI has collaborated with other designers and consumer brands to create limited-edition products and collections. Reported collaborators have included Paul Smith, Vans, and Chilly’s.[3] The company has also used collaborations as a way of demonstrating how waste materials from specific organisations can be turned into new products.

One example is its collaboration involving Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust, in which old NHS uniforms were transformed into limited-edition bags. GOMI states that 100% of the profits from that collection went directly to Sussex Community NHS Charity.

GOMI differs from conventional mass-market electronics companies through its relatively small-scale production model. The company says its Brighton studio brings together designers and sound technicians, while products are crafted using recycled materials.

Its bags, for example, are hand-stitched in the UK. This manufacturing approach contributes to the individuality of GOMI products but also means that production is fundamentally different from highly standardised mass manufacturing.

Sustainability is not simply a marketing category for GOMI; it is positioned as the foundation of the company’s product-development model. The brand attempts to address several environmental problems simultaneously:

1. Plastic waste — by incorporating difficult-to-recycle plastics into products.
2. Electronic waste — by creating products designed to be repaired rather than discarded.
3. Battery waste — by giving suitable second-life batteries another application.
4. Short product lifespans — through modular construction and repair programmes.
5. Overproduction — through small-scale and limited production approaches.

An independent circularity case study from the Technical University of Denmark describes GOMI as a Brighton-based company using circular-economy principles to transform flexible plastics and second-life lithium batteries into durable audio products.

GOMI occupies an unusual position between consumer electronics, industrial design, sustainability, and lifestyle products. Rather than competing solely on technical specifications, the brand sells a combination of technology, design, sustainability, craftsmanship, and individuality.

This gives GOMI a positioning closer to a design-led sustainable technology studio than a conventional electronics manufacturer. Its products are deliberately designed to look different from typical black, white, or metallic electronics. The recycled material itself becomes a selling point.

A concise way to understand GOMI’s philosophy is that waste should not necessarily be the end of a material’s life. GOMI’s approach is to take materials that have already been discarded—or would ordinarily be discarded—and give them another useful life through product design.

The company’s own description centres on making “beautiful products that last”, while its current messaging emphasises buying fewer, better products and repairing them when they break.[1]

GOMI is notable within sustainable design because it challenges the assumption that recycled products need to look like conventional “eco” products. Its approach has several distinctive characteristics:

• Recycled material is highly visible, rather than hidden.
• Every product can be visually different.
• Waste materials become part of the brand’s aesthetic identity.
• Repairability is incorporated into the product proposition.
• Second-life batteries are integrated into new products.
• Local craftsmanship is emphasised.
• Limited-edition collaborations create additional applications for waste materials.

The company has consequently received attention from design and technology publications, with coverage from outlets including Dezeen, Fast Company, Forbes, and Wired, according to GOMI’s own press page.

As of 2026, GOMI presents itself as a Brighton-based independent sustainable design company whose range extends beyond its original recycled-plastic speakers into a broader collection of consumer electronics, accessories, and upcycled bags. Its current website lists speakers, power banks, wireless chargers, cables, phone cases, and bags, while continuing to emphasise repairability, recycled materials, and local production.[1]

The brand’s central proposition can therefore be summarised as: GOMI turns waste into desirable, durable products—and makes the history of the material part of the product’s identity.

Note: “GOMI” is not a unique company name. There are unrelated organisations using the name, including a Korean e-commerce company and other products/services. This profile specifically refers to GOMI, the Brighton sustainable-design and technology brand.[5]

1. About the Studio – gomi
2. It’s rubbish: introducing Gomi
3. gomi: A circular design studio transforming ‘non-recyclable’ waste into beautiful, repairable tech. | Social Supermarket
4. Interview: Gomi Founder & Designer Tom Meades
5. Gomi Corporation | LinkedIn