The developed world’s ongoing need for quick furnishing solutions has only
worsened an industry waste problem, sending as much as nine million pounds of
furniture
annually
to the landfill.
The solutions to this problem may sound familiar: Using less and repurposing
more of what’s already on the market. This two-pronged approach largely echoes
what Spanish furniture maker Andreu World has
been working on for the last couple of decades, building up to the
announcement earlier this year
that the 65-year-old company is now the first in the industry to be 100 percent
Cradle to Cradle
(C2C)-certified
across its entire product line.
As a high-end brand responsible for furnishing offices for several of the tech
world’s biggest players (Uber’s and YouTube’s San Francisco
headquarters, Google’s Hyderabad, India office and certain Amazon
outposts, just to name a few), achieving Cradle to Cradle certification is a
distinguishing calling card as companies grapple with hybrid work
models
and the need to reduce their own footprints wherever possible.
“Being inspired by the original C2C
book,
(this milestone) is an amazing feat,” Andreu World CEO Jesús Llinares told
Sustainable Brands™.
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Llinares notes that Andreu World regularly works with more than 100 suppliers;
so, in order to earn the C2C certification, the company had to ensure all of its
partners were also meeting those standards (a process that began in 2004) —
specifically, making sure the final products were free of a range of restricted
substances.
As in other industries, the raw materials themselves also require a certain set
of standards. Andreu World is also the first furniture company to achieve 100
percent Forest Stewardship Council sourcing across its entire product range,
mainly by sourcing wood from the company’s own European forests.
“We monitor every step of the process to ensure that our sustainability
principles are enforced in every step,” Llinares says, “from controlled logging
to the arrival of the logs at the sawmill, and the planks that are sent to the
factories to transform them into components.”
Keeping furniture in the world, longer
Circular models for furniture are difficult to implement, given the sheer size
of most of the products — it’s much easier to transport and recirculate last
season’s
clothing
than a large dining table. Still, a handful of companies — including IKEA —
are experimenting with buyback or resale
programs;
and third-party resale
platforms
such as Chairish source and aggregate used pieces from the general public.
Llinares understands this challenge and says resale and restoration are key
components of the company’s internal roadmap to incorporating circularity
throughout the company.
“We are putting together centers (with existing centers in Europe,
Japan, the United States and Canada) to provide support in handling
these repair or recycling needs to make sure that through a product’s entire
life cycle, it serves a purpose in sustainability,” he says.
For furniture that can’t be resold, the brand is also developing a streamlined
process to disassemble and reincorporate furniture parts into new pieces and
recycling/upcycling what can’t be reused.
Detailing the final footprint
In a move not often seen in the furniture industry, Andreu World worked with
SGS to calculate the
actual carbon footprint of several of its most popular products — highlighting
stark differences between the impact of a conference table compared to a single
dining chair, for example.
“We’re working year by year to improve with a plan to achieve zero waste soon by
measuring each of our individual outputs,” Llinares says.
He hopes all of these efforts will keep the company ahead of the market as
employers look to reduce the impact of their physical offices, whether that be
through renewed furniture or other means.
“Timeless design and quality are the two main tools we have,” he says.
“Combining that with a plan to reupholster and re-utilize, it’s clear our vision
for the future is generating less virgin product; and the market will ask for
that more and more.”
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Geoff is a freelance journalist and copywriter focused on making the world a better place through compelling copy. He covers everything from apparel to travel while helping brands worldwide craft their messaging. In addition to Sustainable Brands, he's currently a contributor at Penta, AskMen.com, Field Mag and many others. You can check out more of his work at geoffnudelman.com.
Published Sep 20, 2022 8am EDT / 5am PDT / 1pm BST / 2pm CEST