Green Furniture Concept aims to take responsibility and always challenge itself and the industry to improve its offering.
We recognise the importance of considering the full lifecycle of products, the materials used to make them and are always careful about the kind of chemicals used in our products.
Our four sustainability cornerstones are chemical awareness, design and resources, reforestation and post-sales responsibility.
Chemical awareness
Chemical substances are everywhere in our lives. They might be the adhesive used to build our furniture, the dyes in our clothes or the salt on our food. Some chemicals are edible and safe, but others are toxic to humans, wildlife and the environment. The chemicals we use in production around the world are the chemicals we take into our homes and put into the natural habitats of wildlife. It is up to us to decide what kind of chemicals we want in our lives and which we can do without.
We carefully assess the chemical substances used in our furniture to make sure the products we deliver are free from ecotoxins and harmful substances. We collaborate with our suppliers and environmental chemists to evaluate and continuously improve our chemical footprint. The Nordic Ecolabel is the bottom line for our work to improve chemical contents and raise chemical awareness. Our vision and goal are to exclude all SIN-listed substances from our products.
Design and resources
There are two kinds of resources on this planet, renewable and finite. With a growing global population and faster manufacturing processes, resource scarcity is here to stay. That is why renewable resources (materials like wood) need to be regenerated at the same rate they are used. At the same time, we need a circular approach to using and reusing finite resources (materials like metals). It is essential to understand and keep this in mind when designing and developing the future.
We design our products using renewable and recyclable materials and use the highest possible percentage of recycled and upcycled content. We never stop trying to find new and better production methods and materials.* We use wood from certified sources to help protect biodiversity and maintain viable use of the world’s forests.
We think reuse rather than buy new. We use hardwax oil** instead of traditional wood varnish so that our furniture can be repainted and any scratches can be easily touched up instead of replacing complete parts. But just in case something does need to be replaced or recycled, we design our products to make sure parts can be disassembled individually to minimise waste and separate materials for recycling.
Reforestation
The forests of our world are beyond amazing. They are places of great biodiversity, they protect river basins and give us oxygen while reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Without a doubt, trees are some of the best things on the planet, and we need more of them.
As a manufacturing company, we do take and use resources but we try to do so responsibly. Our wood components come from certified sources to support and guarantee responsible forestry. We also plant a tree for every product sold, to close the biological cycle we start when the trees we use are cut down. We want to replant where it matters and the most biodiverse and complex forests around the world are the tropical rainforests, which is why we choose to replant the majority of our trees in Colombia.
Post-sales responsibility
If every manufacturer had to take care of their products throughout the lifecycle, from the taking of resources in the beginning to the very end, we would see a lot smarter products out there. This responsibility would drive companies to make parts that can be easily exchanged and products that can be quickly and easily maintained. Products that last for a long time. Products made of materials that are used again when the product’s useful life is over. This would allow more time for renewable resources to regenerate and would reduce the scarcity of finite resources.
To ensure that we take care of our products and the materials that go into them after they are sold, we’ve developed a Buy-Back system for our Nova C Series. The system works like the traditional return system for bottles. Any time during the 15-year warranty period, clients can request a return of the benches. We collect the benches free of charge and give the customer a refund on the initial cost. The refund will be as much as 30 percent if the customer has a full service book. This makes it possible for us to keep taking responsibility for the resources we use even after the products are sold. The returned products are either refurbished and sold again or disassembled and recycled.
In addition to our Buy-Back System we also offer our customers Seating-as-a-Service, the option to lease our products instead of buying them. Seating-as-a-Service projects are tailored to optimally meet the needs of the customer.