Demand for products with positive environmental credentials has never been higher. Increased consumer awareness of the need to minimise their impact on the planet is percolating down to their choice of products used when completing kitchen renovations, whether that’s kitchen cabinets, worktops, doors or flooring.

While for some style is still the be all and end all, there has been a significant increase in trade customers and homeowners enquiring about materials’ environmental merits and sustainability. At Howdens, we’re committed to ensuring our timber products – kitchens, doors, work surfaces, flooring and other joinery products – deliver on both fronts and our sustainability commitment is giving us a competitive advantage.

We’re developing new sustainable products, re-engineering existing products with a sustainable sourcing strategy. In fact, in 2021 we formalised a change in our approach to new product design and sustainability is now a key criteria. This ensures style and sustainability work hand-in-hand and that our customers and homeowners don’t have to choose between them.

Our strategy for timber sustainability was recognised in February 2022 by Which?, after our approach to sustainable wood furniture was given the highest rating of ‘Good’, one of only four leading UK brands to be so rated. We were judged on policies, percentage of certified wood and easy-to-find information on our websites. This coincided with us hitting our ESG targets at the end of 2021. Two of our manufacturing sites in Howden and Runcorn are now carbon-neutral; 100% of our production waste is reused, recovered or recycled and more than 99% of depot waste avoided landfill in 2021.

As the UK’s number one trade kitchen supplier, we used over 270,000m3 of chipboard and 61,000m3 of MDF in our factories in 2021, so it’s vital we know where our timber comes from.

As members of the Timber Trade Federation, we’re recognised as a ‘Responsible Purchaser’, which means we have third-party assurance on our timber purchasing due-diligence systems.

Nearly all the wood we purchase is either FSC- or PEFC-certified, giving us independent documented evidence of an unbroken chain of ownership from the forest via the mill, the importer, and our suppliers. At the end of 2021, 95.5% of all our kitchen frontals were made from FSC- or PEFC-certified materials and we’re on track to achieve our 100% target this year. All the frontals we manufacture ourselves are certified, and we insist that all those manufactured by third parties are accredited.

We manufactured over 4.5 million cabinets in 2021, so it’s an area we control and where we can make a big difference. That’s why we’re trying to produce a fully recyclable cabinet. At present we’re at around 90% and working to improve this further. We’re also looking at the beginning of our cabinet’s lifecycle and aiming to maximise the percentage of recycled materials they’re made from. At present 35% of the wood content in the chipboard used for our cabinets is recycled. Some is from our own wood waste, which we collect from depots and take back to our main board supplier who then recycles it into new boards. We’re also using membership of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s (EMF) Network to look at other circular opportunities.

The EMF promotes circular economy development and sustainability and addresses global environmental challenges such as climate change, waste, pollution, and biodiversity loss. Its goal is better outcomes for people and the environment.

A circular economy is based on three pillars; elimination of waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regeneration of natural systems.

Howdens will benefit greatly from EMF membership as we look to bring circular economy principles and practices into our work and potentially collaborate with other members in developing solutions to problems such as plastic waste and use of materials that cannot be reused or recycled.

There continue to be challenges on the horizon for us and other manufacturers who are committed to wood sustainability. Future impacts arising from climate change will require us to continue to innovate and work closely with suppliers to source sustainable products for the future.