Kingfisher — parent company of European home-improvement chains B&Q, Castorama, Brico Depot, Screwfix and Koçtaş — has published its Sustainability Report 2015/16, which details its progress towards becoming a restorative, Net Positive business.
Kingfisher’s ambition is to make home improvement accessible so that everyone can have a home they feel good about. It believes that a good home has to be sustainable — one that is healthy, resource smart, energy efficient and affordable to run.
“Whilst customers are working within tight budgets, we know they care deeply about securing healthy, safe, durable and comfortable surroundings and want to be part of a vibrant community — because they’ve told us,” said Kingfisher CEO Véronique Laury. “Our challenge is to provide easy, affordable and sustainable solutions to help them realise these things. I want Kingfisher to be a truly sustainable company — both in its operation and its offering.”
The Report shows how Kingfisher is working to bring customers the sustainable solutions they need to create good homes, while also benefiting its business, communities and the environment.
Highlights include:
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Innovation — 28 percent of Kingfisher’s revenue is now driven from products that help customers create more sustainable homes, well on the way to its ambition of 50 percent by 2020; by 2050, the goal is for every Kingfisher product to enable a more sustainable and ultimately Net Positive lifestyle.
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Energy — energy-saving products and services have saved Kingfisher customers £750m in energy bills – enough to power every home in Paris for over a year. It has reduced its own energy intensity by 15 percent and opened its first energy-positive store during 2015.
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Timber — 96 percent of timber used in Kingfisher products is now sustainably sourced; the company has also launched a collaboration with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and its Birdlife partners that will restore 100,000 hectares of over-logged tropical forest in Indonesia.
Since the launch of its Net Positive Plan in 2013, Kingfisher's ambitions in this area have seen the company committing to setting science-based sustainability targets, discussing its evolution into circular business models, integrating its sustainability department throughout its entire company, and being at the forefront of companies working to help make Net Positive a definable and achievable objective for business.
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Published Jun 28, 2016 4pm EDT / 1pm PDT / 9pm BST / 10pm CEST