Our sustainability journey started from our first day of business, when we committed to using only timber from managed forests that prevent deforestation. Being a bigger company today means we’re now able to do more.
In our next chapter, there’s a lot for us to be excited about - mainly, our new innovative materials that are cruelty-free and made with fewer chemicals.
Unlike other companies, we’ve been using sustainably sourced wood from the very beginning - since we launched in 2005. The timber we use comes from managed forests, which adheres to strict guidelines to prevent deforestation.
All our wood products (like our sofa frames, and wooden dining tables and chairs) meet European Timber Regulation (EUTR) standards and we've gone beyond this with a commitment to use managed plantation timber exclusively.
We use as much of the plantation timber as possible to reduce wastage of the raw material:
We’ve developed our faux leather to have the same buttery softness and durability as real leather, without needing any special cleaning or care.
All our faux leathers are tested to a minimum 100,000 rub counts on the Martindale scale, an industry standard that measures a fabric's durability. The higher the rub count, the more resistant the material is to wear and tear. In comparison, the average material for domestic use is tested to 25,000-30,000 rub counts.
We’ve also made significant progress with our new range of innovative faux leathers, made without harmful solvents used in traditional processes. Tested to 100,000 Martindale rub counts, they’re better for the planet, better quality and have an even better feel.
We aim to fully transition to solvent-free faux leathers by end-2024.
Most furniture companies in the UK still rely on virgin plastics as a raw material, but new recycled plastics can be a better choice:
For that reason, we’ve started to replace virgin plastics with recycled in our fabrics, wherever possible. The backing materials aren't yet available in any recycled form in the market - as soon as they are, we’ll use them in our products.
Our recycled fabrics are independently certified by the Global Recycle Standard (GRS) and rigorously tested for everyday use. Our goal is to fully transition to recycled fabrics by end-2024.
To help tackle climate change, a portion of our proceeds goes to planting trees. Our goal is to plant 500,000 trees.
Our goal is to plant 500,000 trees. We started planting trees with Ecologi and we're continuing to offset our carbon footprint by teaming up with Treeapp
Treeapp is a UK-based B Corp Certified company that plants trees to offset carbon around the world. They've planted over 2.4 million trees worldwide in 2023 and are planning to double their impact over the next year.
Learn more or get involved at https://www.thetreeapp.org/
Use our Recycle or Donate Tool to dispose of your old furniture legally and sustainably. This handy online tool maps over 700 furniture recycling and donation centres across the UK - simply key in your postcode to find your nearest centre.
Our products are packed in cartons made from recyclable cardboard and with recycled plastic bags where possible. We’re also striving for alternative packaging methods to decrease our one-time use of packaging materials.
At Furniture And Choice, none of our waste goes to landfills. Our warehouses separate plastic and cardboard from our product packaging and send it to recycling centres. And in our offices, we separate cardboard, paper and aluminium for recycling, and send our waste to a local power station to use as fuel.
We also participate in the Cycle to Work scheme scheme, a tax-free employee benefit that helps our staff get a brand new bike and equipment for a healthier, more active lifestyle.
Our responsibility to the environment includes being compliant with the Consumer Information Obligation. In order to meet this, we provide information detailing recycling advice and guidance for our customers, including how and where to recycle, a guide to recycling symbols and top recycling tips.
The overall aim is to ensure that our customers are aware of their recycling responsibilities and have the correct information to become more environmentally friendly in the home and work-place, all of which is focused around the traditional waste hierarchy principles of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. This information is available at https://www.complydirect.com/the-recycling-room/.