Green Retail Part Two

Green Retail

In the second of our four-part series, we take a look at a number of furniture retailers and what they are doing in terms of sustainability. Next up, Wayfair, Made.com and Mattress Online.

The topic of sustainability is not anything new but its importance is ever relevant and continues to grow. You may have seen a greater choice of sustainability-led products within the furniture industry over the past few years, from bottle-filled mattresses to fully recycled components at the core of new products. This is fantastic and long may it continue. Alongside product innovations, businesses are also adapting new ways of working to make their operations greener. As consumers are becoming more sustainability-focused in their purchase journey, it is important for all businesses to keep the eco-movement moving, growing and evolving.

In the second instalment of our fourpart series, we take a look at a number of furniture retailers and what they are doing in terms of sustainability. This article explores what some online retailers are doing in this area as we focus on Wayfair, Made.com and Mattress Online.

Wayfair

Wayfair says it has changed and evolved significantly over the past 20 years. From a small internet start-up to a global ecommerce destination for home, their commitment to helping others create the feeling of home has remained. “This commitment encompasses the “homes” that we all share - from our local communities and towns to the planet we all depend on. We are committing to investing in our shared home and reducing our environmental impacts,” the retailer said. As part of this commitment, Wayfair has set long-term goals to reduce

The UK currently throws away 7 million mattresses each year and it is estimated that only 19% of mattresses are recycled.

- Mattress Online

its Scope 1 & 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 63% by 2035 from a 2020 baseline. This looks to reduce their footprint from its global facilities and managed vehicles - the areas of its operations where they have the most direct impact. “We’re already reviewing robust renewable energy, energy efficiency and electrification projects to address these emissions. In the meantime, we have invested in renewable energy credits and renewable energy guarantees of origin that fund approximately 8,300 megawatts of renewable energy generation across North America, the EU, and UK,” Wayfair added.

As for Scope 3 emissions - the upstream and downstream emissions of its value chain, Wayfair is aiming to create programs that engage suppliers and partners to address the notable emissions associated with the products that it sells and transports. Last year, Wayfair invested within its UK and EU fulfilment sites with new machinery, reaffirming its commitment to environmental impacts, particularly in packaging and waste reduction.

The new machinery adds protective corners to existing transit cartons across its UK and EU fulfilment locations. This solution has reduced in-transit damage rates and contributed to a 39% reduction in wooden pallet utilisation. It also reduced plastic usage by more than 2,200 pounds a month, as the new machinery removes the need for added foam corners in transit cartons.

For small-parcel items, Wayfair has replaced plastic poly bags with ‘easy-to-reseal’ paper bags in both the UK and Germany. “This reduces non-recyclable waste while improving the customer experience in the event the item is returned,” Wayfair said. “Altogether, replacing poly bags in the UK and EU has resulted in a plastic reduction of more than 13,000 pounds in the past year.

“In 2021, our Packaging Engineering teams collaborated with suppliers to improve packaging for about 620 popular items in North America, the EU, and the UK, avoiding damage during delivery for more than 100,000 units sold. Our field research has continually shown that strong, protective packaging is key to reducing shipping damage, which ultimately leads to waste. So, we’re actively working to make our packaging more effective and sustainable.

during the packing process, increasing the amount of readily recyclable materials in our packaging, and continuously investing in our packaging innovation research.”

A final note includes Wayfair’s ‘Shop Sustainably’ feature that allows customers to search over 500,000 sustainable products offered on its platform. From furniture to decor, each of these products meets specific environmental, health, indoor air quality, or community-related certifications and standards. From listening to customer feedback, MADE plans to eliminate all unnecessary plastic from packaging and ensure that what it uses is recycled and recyclable. Last year MADE reduced total packaging by 27%, including the reduction of the amount of polystyrene and plastic use as part of its packaging by 27%. Again, with 2025 as the benchmark aim, MADE intends to achieve 100% recycled or recyclable packaging.

The final segment of MADE’s sustainably action plan is end of life. The retailer is encouraging customers to donate old, unwanted furniture by making the process easier. During 2021 in the UK and France, MADE launched its partnership with Geev, a giveaway platform that gives unwanted products a second life as well as a charitable donation. By 2025, MADE will have invested more in its returns operations in order to repurpose, refurbish and recycle preloved pieces. This initiative has delivered 270+ eligible donations via GEEV since launch.

“Our ability to manage our supply chain allows us to mitigate the impact of our activities and the products we sell. We design products with their longevity in mind and we believe that our approach in this aligns strongly with the core values of our predominantly millennial customer base, who are increasingly focused on transparency, sustainability and integrity to inform their brand choice and purchasing decisions. By offering give-away and take-back schemes we want to empower our customers to join us on our journey to becoming a truly responsible business,” MADE said.

With this search functionality, every Wayfair shopper can now filter search results across 10 sustainability-specific categories. These include ENERGY STAR Certified, Environmentally Preferred, GREENGUARD Certified, Hypoallergenic, Local Community Empowerment, Made Clean, Organic, Recycled, Reclaimed Wood and Water Efficient.

Made.com Mattress Online

Mattress Online has long been in the sustainability mindset and back in 2015 the retailer launched a non-profit mattress collection and recycling service, pledging to recycle 40% of all mattresses by 2025. So far, they have saved more than 100,000 mattresses from landfill and a third of all their customers take up the offer.

Made.com has made four key commitments as part of its ongoing sustainability pledge. These include responsible timber sourcing, responsible textile sourcing, responsible packaging and responsible end of life.

Starting with timber sourcing, MADE says it is committed to ensuring timber is sourced from responsibly managed forests to avoid deforestation. They trace timber back to forest level and select well-managed routes/sources, as well as using recycled wood where possible. Last year, more than 60% of MADE’s timber came from more sustainable sources, while their 2025 goal aims to reach 100%. With textiles, MADE said it wants to create less environmental impact with its two key textiles – cotton and polyester. By 2025, MADE aims to have both 100% sustainably sourced. In addition to saving more than 100,000 mattresses from going to landfill, in the last year alone (2021-22) they’ve prevented 19,000 mattresses from going to landfill. Over the past five years that’s a 344% increase in recycling, and between 01/01/22 and 31/08/22 alone, 9,988 mattresses were recycled (22.59% of all orders).

Steve Adams, CEO, said: “All our plastic polythene mattress bags are made from 100% recycled content and are 100% recyclable, and our staff all wear uniforms made from ethically sourced materials. In early 2022 we were recognised for our efforts and won the Modern Retail Sustainability Award. We continue to investigate the use of reusable hessian packaging to move away from plastic as much as possible.

“Additionally, 22% of our mattresses are chemical-free, 26% of our mattresses include recycled materials, and 23% of our mattresses are vegan-friendly. The UK currently throws away 7 million mattresses each year and it is estimated that only 19% of mattresses are recycled. Mattress Online recognises that it’s not enough for us to just engage in a sustainability initiative in silo, we want the whole industry to make it easier for customers to recycle.”

Steve also co-chairs a retail advisory forum with other manufacturers and suppliers from across the board, working on a collective approach to tackling recycling challenges in the bedding industry. To further drive change in the industry, CEO Steve Adams has joined the Sustainability panel of the National Bed Federation (NBF). The panel works with the ministerial department at The Department On packaging, MADE said there’s a for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to make an extended producer delicate balance between protecting responsibility (EPR) statutory across the industry. products in transit to prevent damage (which creates waste) and overpackaging (which also creates waste). www.wayfair.co.uk - www.made.com - www.mattressonline.co.uk