Sustainability | ANALYSIS
sustainability. He thinks there is still a lot of consumer confusion around sustainability. He has observed: “When talking to consumers, I have personally seen how surprised people are that the savings they will see with a Quooker long-term (both in terms of energy, but crucially, water) are so impressive.” He believes that consumers are likely to pay a premium for a product if retailers can help them understand how they will likely save money in the long run.
Ongoing strategy
Despite the split opinions over cost, one thing that seemingly all suppliers can agree on is that despite its challenges, sustainability is incredibly important to their ongoing business strategy. Nick Taylor, head of residential at Zip
Water, says that sustainability is inherently entwined with the company’s philosophy. He explains: “Credibility, reputation and ethics are all important aspects of our brand and each of these we can relate to in providing the needs of people today, without causing detriment to the needs of people, nature and the planet in the future.”
Another brand that says it is built on a sustainable foundation is Abode. Accor- ding to the manufacturer, “monitoring lifestyle trends and future projections under- pins our approach and we believe there is always room for improvement and new ideas. We are finding that developing sustainable products, services and practices
goes hand in hand with our core values of passion, innovation and assurance.”
Outside of product offerings, business director at
Just Trays, Lee Hudson, says that the push for sustainability has become more of a cultural issue at the company. He thinks a desire for sustainability is beginning to influence consumer decisions, but aside from just product solutions, they’ve “created a culture
of continual improvement for all our
employees, at all levels, to challenge current methods and materials we use to reduce the impact we have on the planet”. Blum has been very vocal about its sustainability efforts across the business – from installing solar panels and harnessing renewable energy, to supporting safe housing for local ecological populations, such as honeybees. Häfele has gone into detail about its efforts to reconsider its packaging, such as optimising the thickness of bubble wrap and using shipping boxes with more size variations. Egger is a particularly good example of a company with a clear sustainability focus. Its product sustainability senior expert, Dr Martina Bender, has highlighted how its chipboard products can be recycled up to seven times, with products at their end of life recycled into biomass fuel. This is then used to heat its production facility, with excess energy being returned back to the local power grid. The company even says it provides energy for up to 150 local houses using its recycled resources. This ties in to a point raised by
Michael Egger Jr at the company’s sustainability conference. Egger believes that the job of leadership is to “bring management together globally and ask their cultural
March 2024 •
AT THE FOREFRONT OF THE AGENDA
Kbbreview asked Michael Egger Jr, Egger Group sales officer, about his own
thoughts on sustainability Q & A
Q: Looking at Egger – but also the wider industry as a whole – do you think we’re doing enough for sustainability yet? A: Overall, my impression is that the topic of sustainable
management efforts, is gaining
momentum. Here at Egger we are always looking ahead with a long-term perspective. Through collaborative
particularly
with our customers in the UK, we are at the forefront of driving the sustainability agenda. The UK market has proven itself to be swift in its response to this pivotal issue. The most important factor is knowledge, so the experts should have a seat at the table when discussing sustainability, and it should be measurable with facts and figures – rather than relying on marketing-driven
notions. Therefore, our
commitment lies in presenting sustainability information that is unquestionable, supported by facts and evidence.
Q: How important a role do technological advancements play in cementing a sustainable future going forwards? A: Technology moves at a fast pace. Whenever there is something new on the horizon, our technicians examine it to see if we can incorporate it into our new and existing plants. This ensures that our facilities remain up-to-date. One such example is Egger’s plant in St Johann, which is the oldest plant in the group, founded in 1961. Despite its age, it
I don’t think it’s something you can charge a premium for. It simply should come as standard
Dan Boulton, Clearwater
perspective to create solutions”, and this can work for sustainability as well as other issues. He believes that company leaders owe this to both their staff and their families. However, he does acknowledge that this may pose a challenge. For Egger, he notes, “we need our 11,000+ staff to be aligned, from Argentina to Germany”. With sustainability such a priority for suppliers, what do they believe we need to be doing more of? “Quantifying whether enough has been done as an industry with regards to sustainability is always going to be difficult. Yes, there are awards and standards which can indicate what has been done, but to make a true impact on the environment we need to all push further than that.”, believes Jessica Rhodes, product and marketing manager at Asko. She adds: “New technologies and expanding knowledge continually redefine the standards we must adhere to in order to be environmentally responsible and sustainable. We must remain vigilant, continually reevaluating our practices, and pushing the boundaries of what is considered environmentally responsible.” Similarly, Tim Hutchinson, divisional manager at Liebherr UK, believes that “the sector should consider sustainability from all angles. Technology is at the forefront of advances in sustainability, and the industry should not only embrace new
continues to be equipped with the latest technological advancements. Every possible investment in technology is made here, as this enables us to create a clean and sustainable environment for our surroundings.
Q: Do you think retailers understand enough about sustainability? A: I think awareness in our industry has risen very quickly – in the past 12 months especially. Although there still persists a lack of knowledge in certain corners of the industry, the dialogue among industry and sustaina- bility experts has increased. We need to make sure that everyone’s access to information continues to rise. We have to deliver the messages precisely to our customers, and only then can they in turn relay it to their customers and together we can progress towards our shared agenda. I think when we speak about sustainability, we can encourage others to look deeper into their products and embrace the principles of value engineering.
Q: With Egger continuing to expand into Asia, is it a challenge balancing developing your business but still staying true to the sustainability values that you’ve set out? A: We recently acquired a stake in the Thai company Panel Plus, which opens up new market possibilities. The format of their boards differs from the European format, but Panel Plus also shares our commitment to sustainability. They initially started with chipboard production out of bagasse, a residue from sugar production. Our values align very well with Panel Plus, just like in our relation- ship with Blum or Häfele, or many other long-term partners. We want to continue our development along with another sustainable- thinking family businesses.
technology, but also continue to evaluate the ways it can be advanced for both the manufacturing process and within the products we produce”. Egger’s answer, raised at its press conference, was that sustainable manufacturing and processes are all important, but the key to sustainable advancement actually
lies in data – or more
specifically, in using it correctly. “We don’t want to let ourselves be blinded by suppliers who try and mislead us on climate,” Egger said. “We need huge data quantities to measure sustainability and its impact. We need software for that. We need our suppliers to achieve Net Zero by 2050. Our recent surveys have found that customers are not always as knowledgeable about sustainability as we’d like.”
Right track
Although Egger is right to point out that data is a valuable way of measuring sustainable advances, the issue is such an unpresented topic on a global scale. Gregor Riekena, Häfele chairman, pointed out at Egger’s conference: “Although culture and positive management can be your compass, there is no map for the way ahead.” With no roadmap, how do we know if what we’re doing is right or effective at all? Roman Showers believes that although we still can’t know for certain, “any change is a positive change towards a more sustainable future”. The brand also points out that: “There is still a long way to go, of course, but we are making positive changes and conscious
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