Towards
full transparency
First, check out our solution for ending the throwaway paradigm
Where are we?
So, what's the status in 2020?
Last year (2020), we introduced our very first sustainability report. This year we take it a step further and set concrete goals in line with the Science based target initiative (SBTi)Science Based Targets are concrete goals in alignment with a 1,5 degree future set by corporates: sciencebasedtargets.org
Vestre aims to be known as the world’s most sustainable furniture brand. Transparency will be a core component going forward, as the sustainability space becomes increasingly crowded.
These are some of the areas in which we have progressed compared to last year, whereas others need a bit more time. Here are a few examples
| Indicator | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Carbon intensity | 15.0 tCO2e/MNOK | 14.8 tCO2e/MNOK |
| Share of FSC certified wood | <20% | 48% |
| Share of post-consumer scrap: steel | 2.6% | 2.6% |
| Share of post-consumer scrap: aluminium | >75% | >75% |
| Energy produced in-house | 122 MWh | 140 MWh |
Vestre materiality assessment
This year, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)GRI is the independent, international organisation that helps businesses and other organisations take responsibility for their impacts, by providing them with the global common language to communicate those impacts globalreporting.org standards has been incorporated into our report. As a part of this work, Vestre has conducted a materiality assessment which has resulted in three material topics for Vestre: Quality, Climate Footprint, and Inclusive Society.
We conducted the materiality assessment to better understand our stakeholder’s expectations of us, and how our stakeholders identify us as a sustainable furniture manufacturer. The Materiality assessment was done in accordance with the GRI framework and was conducted by third-party advisors.
Our key stakeholders
Citizens
Community
Earth
Employees
Customers
Suppliers
For full overview of our materiality matrix, download our full report.
What do we need to do?
Knowledge about climate footprint is essential to make informed decisions on how to act.
Companies across the globe have been ravaging the commons for centuries now, and it is time to take more responsibility. In a fair and sustainable world, companies should provide a net benefit to society, not only the shareholders. Vestre will reduce our footprint in accordance with our science based targets.
Mapping out the carbon footprint in detail allowed Vestre to focus efforts where most impact could be achieved. Emissions from Scope 1 and 2 are small for Vestre, so the focus area will be scope 3.
All direct emissions from the activities of our organisation or under our control.
Indirect emissions from electricity purchased and used by the organisation.
All other emissions from activities of the organisation, occurring from sources that we do not own or control.
Vestre aims to be a net provider of energy by 2025.
Scope 3 consists of 89% materials and 10% transport.
Progress
The declining carbon intensity shows we are on the right track, but there is still a long way to go.
So, what do we need to do to reach our goal?
We aim to be a business that contributes a net positive to society, and through full transparency we invite you to take part of that journey.
Our value chain consists of
Materials
Production
Transport
End of life
Vestre vision zero.
Our goal is that all Vestre products shall have the possibility of eternal life. We will achieve this through reuse, refurbishments, remanufacturing and always having spare parts available. Watch this space.
Certifications
A certain way to know that what you are buying is a good product also for the environment is to look for a type 1 ecolabel, such as the Nordic Swan.
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Sustainable forestry management
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Quality & environmental governance
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Type 1 ecolabel ISO14020
Quality is a key part of sustainability. Our ambition is to achieve a world where the organisation’s contribution to society is a net positive when all externalities are counted and paid in full.
Vestre aims to utilise a higher degree of recycled materials.
Our goals
Materials
The quest for quality and longevity starts with using the right materials.
Aluminium
Steel
Wood
Products with life-long quality
As mentioned we aim for all our products to have the possibility of eternal life, what we call Vestre Vision Zero. Our commitment to this is reflected through the extensive use of the Nordic Swan Ecolabel (currently more than 250 products) which is a type 1 Ecolabel (ISO 14040).
Another component of that is some TLCTender, Love and Care throughout the lifecycle. Vestre has established a maintenance team in Oslo which combines both 1) prolonging the lifetime of our products and 2) helps people who struggle getting into the workforce with a first gig.
Use
Think lifecycle cost
By using lifecycle cost instead of purchase cost we can do away with much of the products that are cheap to buy, but get destroyed quickly. Vestre firmly believes that total cost of ownership should be the measure, favouring high quality goods with low maintenance costs.
EPD-focus
The focus this year has been to set a standard on how EPD’s can enable customers to make informed decisions. Vestre has created an EPDEnvironmental Product Declarations are overviews of product’s components and their impact on the environment. You can think of it as the nutritional value label on food (https://www.environdec.com/all-about-epds/the-epd) for all our catalogue-products.
Recycled is not recycled
We got an epiphany when we understood that only 2,6% of our steel had actually been out in the market. The rest had just been scooped back in during the production process.
Recycled, that sounds good, right? We thought so too. At least until we discovered that recycled does not mean recycled. Not in the way we usually think about it at least. Rather, recycled encompasses both 1) the excess material that never leaves the plant and 2) the materials that leave the plant and come back for a second life.
The latter is what most of us recognize and think of when we hear the word ‘recycled’. This term, however, is not a guarantee that your product has been out in the world and done some good. It might as well have been inside the plant all along, constantly slipping over the edge of the melting pot until it finally made its way to your product.
Josten Søreide at Hydro on the importance of post-consumer scrap
"The green transition is all about driving a real change. Recycling and a circular economy is essential to secure this. But not all recycling is equal. The recycling of process scrap is a result of inefficient processing, and needs to be handled to avoid material losses."
"On the other hand, recycling of post-consumer scrap reduces the need for virgin materials, thus helping to reduce pressure on resource consumption and associated environmental footprints. This is what really matters. So when looking into the issue of recycling – ask yourself whether your approach makes a real difference. If not – you are not contributing to the real green transition."
Some materials have just gone completely out of hand. That’s why we were proud to present the world’s first bench made from ownerless marine plastic.
In 2020, Vestre together with Ope and Rune Gaasø took the initiative to set up Ogoori, a company that is aiming to clean up the plastic waste from our oceans and recycle it for use in furniture design. Now we have launched the Coast bench, where the seating is made entirely from ownerless marine plastic shared by Ogoori.
“It’s an inspiring and gratifying task to design a bench that uses plastic collected from beaches with the help of volunteers. So it feels really good to have created the first bench from this material for Vestre, and to contribute to sustainable development with a product that will be accessible to everyone”
Where are we headed?
At the core, Vestre is about creating caring meeting places for all those informal, but extremely important interactions across all human dimensions.
Vestre refuses to provide hostile designs, for example benches with spikes created to keep the weakest members of society away from public spaces. Inclusive society encapsulates Vestre's entire ethos, and every caring meeting place created is a win for the company.
In deep contradiction with Milton Friedman’s pursuit of profit mantra we deem it high time that business took global solidarity seriously. We set aside 10% of profits every year to initiatives that support the SDGs.
Partnerships for the goals
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Ongoing initiative with Oslo Church City Mission to alleviate job insecurity and include people that have fallen outside the workforce, aiming to bring them back in.
kirkensbymisjon.noSustainable Development Goals
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The YSI movement is creating awareness and engagement among youth globally through a platform aimed at creating solutions to the SDGs.
ysiglobal.comSustainable Development Goals
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Food scarcity and unemployment often go hand in hand. That’s why Vestre is proud to be an investor in the FFF initiative which aims at tackling both of those.
http://facebook.com/FFFTanzaniaSustainable Development Goals
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Partnering with global organisations is sometimes the only way to reach out to people on the margins of society. Vestre is aiding MSF financially to provide field hospitals where hospital care is non-existent.
msf.orgSustainable Development Goals
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A start-up whose mission of solving plastic pollution aims at putting a value on plastic and allowing real incomes for people living in areas that are struggling with bot pollution and employment. The same company is engaged in tracking materials for Vestre’s products through their blockchain solution.
empower.ecoSustainable Development Goals
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Vestre partners with UNICEF to be able to provide education to children in parts of the world that don’t have a school system in place. Especially in the difficult covid-year of 2020 this was important.
unicef.orgSustainable Development Goals
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The project of creating an up-to-date basic design thinking programme together with The Oslo School of Architecture and Design (AHO) continued through the year of 2020. Due to covid, we had to pivot to virtual and e-learning, as opposed to physical workshops.
kirkensnodhjelp.no/enSustainable Development Goals
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Although 2020 has been an extremely difficult year in Myanmar, the Gyaw Gyaw team has continued their efforts to build and contribute to local communities.
gyaw.orgSustainable Development Goals
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Vestre has continued and increased its engagement with Techbridge, an incubator for startups operating out of Kenya. Vestre has also invested directly in SUNami Solar, the Techbridge subsidiary that provides complete solar-packages with appliances meant to increase local employment.
techbridge.org/Sustainable Development Goals
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Recognising that we are in a climate crisis, Vestre has entered into a three-year engagement with activists from XR. The goal is to accelerate the systems change needed to tackle the ongoing climate crisis.
empower.eco
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Operating out of Norway, Chime has provided a steady income to young women in Africa, by the way of pig farming. Vestre has engaged with Chime to extend micro-loans of both pigs and crops which can be paid back and used again, to ensure economic growth and bottom-up building of fragile societies.
chime.com
Every year we will strive to do better, in all aspects of the business. And every year we will share our journey towards reaching our ambitious goals. Because we strongly believe that transparency, openness and sharing is what will drive the world forward. Because everyone can save the world. A little.
If you want to dig deeper into the hard facts, you can find the full report here
In places without clocks, time is measured by actions rather than action being measured by time