Our actions in relation to resource use and supporting the circular economy are covered in three projects: the development of sustainable products, expansion of our circular services portfolio and climate action within our own operations. Actions to reduce the use of virgin resources have also lead to a reduction in scope 3 emissions. It is for this reason that some topics are already covered in the previous chapter. 

Sustainable products

As a manufacturing company, we are committed to reducing the environmental impact of our furniture designs while delivering valuable workplace solutions to our customers and users. From Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) of our product portfolio we know that approximately 75% of the footprint originates from material production. Therefore, we are actively involved in selecting materials with a low embodied carbon footprint.

Royal Ahrend’s circular design framework focuses on both a product and material level. In our design framework we incorporate four circular economy strategies:

• Regenerate: clean materials, suitable for high quality and safe recycling. We approach this with Cradle to Cradle Certified® requirements.
• Narrow: use fewer natural resources in our operations and furniture designs. By calculating the environmental footprint through an LCA, we know what material choices to make during the design process.
• Slow: keep reusing materials and extend the lifespan of our furniture. Furniture is always designed with the end of its first use in mind, because we want to extend the lifespan after this first cycle, ensuring fast and easy refurbishment opportunities.
• Close: recycle materials at highest possible level to keep materials in use. During design we ensure that our materials can be recycled and we research end of life strategies to incorporate these materials into our new products.

With the expansion of our circular services we can extend the product lifespan while reducing the carbon footprint of workspaces. We see a growing interest from our customers in our circular services due to maturing sustainability practices which demands transparency and accurate data to report reduction targets. With our focus on minimising the use of resources and our services portfolio, we support our customers in reaching their sustainability goals. 

Circular hub

Since the opening of our first Circular Hub in 2021, we have experienced rapid growth in all our markets. After initially focussing primarily on the Dutch market, we have adopted an international growth strategy. In the upcoming years we will first focus on further expanding our business to other Western European countries.

As a result of both growth and further refurbishment activities we have expanded our production floor from 6.000 m2 to 8.000 m2. In 2024, we automated the chair refurbishment process at our factory in Sint-Oedenrode. The quality of Revived furniture has improved significantly due to the integration of the refurbishment process in our regular supply chain. In 2025 we will further integrate our circular production activities in our regular production processes.

In 2024, we cycled almost 70.000 pieces of furniture through our Circular Hub, comparable to prior years. 

In the upcoming years we are focusing on getting more feedstock furniture back from the market. We are currently establishing new partnerships with other furniture manufacturers to grow towards an industry-wide collaborative approach for refurbishment. This results in high-quality refurbished products with a warranty, original parts and global coverage to refurbish locally. 

Services portfolio

Royal Ahrend’s business model is changing rapidly from a furniture manufacturer to a workplace service provider. Our unique approach that uses direct sales channels, provides us with the opportunity to make this shift and orchestrate furniture flows. As a result, we form closer relationships with our customers, are able to secure material flows, realise lower setup costs and make faster deliveries to our customers. 

We are taking climate action through responsible production practices, including waste management and water management at our production locations. 

Waste management

Waste management has been a priority for us since the early 1990s. In total we separate 18 types of waste in our factories with the majority being wood (44%), steel (26%), paper and cardboard (11%). As for previous years, most wood waste was produced by our factory in Czech Republic. In 2022, we implemented a closed loop take back system for wood residues with a supplier, resulting in 97% less wood waste. We established a circular system for several wood packaging materials, increasing the share of reused materials. All steel scrap is transported for recycling and originates mainly from our metal hubs in the Netherlands (Sint-Oedenrode) and China. In 2025 and 2026 we focus on reducing waste from packaging materials. 

Water management

All production facilities consume water, but most of our water consumption is related to our metal departments in the Netherlands and China and wood hub in Czech Republic. Process water is powder coating metal parts. All water used is sourced from local suppliers of tap water. Waste water is always neutralised before being discharged and the quality is tested frequently by independent parties under regional regulation to prevent water pollution. 

In 2024, we have made great progress in establishing our internal KPI framework to monitor targets supporting the circular economy. We have not set targets for all KPIs, because we want to monitor developments, but at the same time focus on projects with high impact. This is indicated in the table below. 

Sustainable products

Our internal Lifecycle Management (LCM) process for new product developments includes a standardised set of sustainability requirements to improve the sustainability performance of our products. During the product development process we model LCA studies to assess the effects of our material choices. We have made great progress in incorporating this in our standard way of working.

For newly launched products we have incorporated more recycled plastics. By modelling the environmental effects with LCA during the product development process we were able to determine the most sustainable solution. Recycled plastics will be high on our priority list in upcoming years as well as the results of our plastics research will be available by the end of 2025.

In 2025, we will focus on adding more recycled steel and forming strategic partnerships with energy efficient steel manufacturers. Furthermore, we are exploring sustainable glass alternatives for our space-in-space solutions. 

Circular services

The share of circular services as part of Royal Ahrend’s total revenues is growing gradually. By late 2024, we had €19,15 mln of leased assets in the market, a 12,5% increase compared to the previous year. Furthermore, we increased the share of revenues from our circular services. This includes circular consultancy services to customers, refurbishment and Revived product sales.

In the coming years, we will further expand our circular services. Precise targets are to be determined in 2025 and will be reported in next year’s Integrated Report. 

Climate action

Waste management led to 18 separate waste types in 2024. 67% of all production waste was offered for recycling, 26% was used for energy production and 4% ended up as waste. 2023 percentages have changed due to a shift in methodologies. We have incorporated more accurate domestic waste treatment data, leading to more accurate numbers. 

We have invested a great deal in our waste management activities to make sure that we avoid hazardous waste in our production process, resulting in 2% hazardous waste in 2024, including materials contaminated with oils, varnish, paints and sludge from water treatment. No targets have been identified for water consumption or water treatment.