Kvadrat Sustainability Strategy

November, 2021

This fall Kvadrat launches a new sustainability strategy charting the company’s future roadmap. As we become an increasingly global player in the textile industry, our ambition is to lead the sustainability agenda. Entitled ‘Regenerate Together through Transparency’, the strategy aims to accelerate positive change and responsible business conduct through these three pillars. ‘Regenerate’ is the shift to regenerative production where, rather than extracting and using resources and materials, we adopt regenerative systems. ’Together’ focuses on community, wellbeing, inclusivity and diversity from the perspective of our employees, suppliers, clients and infrastructure partners, and considers how we can drive systemic change. And the third pillar, ‘Transparency’, makes a commitment to capturing reliable data to communicate our impact and build a culture of trust. Behind this is a detailed action plan which includes ten concrete targets. Reflecting Kvadrat´s holistic vision, these targets range from ambitious diversity and inclusion measures, to expanding its verified environmental documentation and achieving significant reduction in carbon emissions. To this end, Kvadrat will submit its carbon reduction targets for both company emissions as well as those from our extended supply chains, to the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi), becoming an accredited member of the coalition in 2022.

 

In terms of how this will impact our textiles and design, in the short term Kvadrat’s shift to Conscious Design Principles will guide Kvadrat’s design direction by fostering a deeper understanding of material impact and their distinguishing characteristics while building on our continued commitment to the longevity of our products.

Existing and new products are divided into four categories illustrated in the diagram above. ‘Synthetic’ is the class of products made of more than 20% virgin synthetic materials, which are characterised by their functional and design potential. The ‘Regenerative’ class defines products made from a minimum of 80% renewable materials, which are either grown naturally or safely man-made. ‘Recycled’ classifies products made from safely recycled material sourced from both post-industrial and post-consumer waste. And ‘Circular’ denotes products that are looped back for product life extension.

While Circularity is the ultimate goal, achieving this requires systemic change. At the moment our Really range of boards, which is made from post-industrial textile waste and offers a material take-back program, fits this category. Kvadrat has set a strategic target to offer suitable circular service models for different product groups; there is already a repair service in place for Kvadrat Shade and Kvadrat Rugs, for example. The ultimate aim is to keep products in circulation for as long as possible before eventually upcycling the materials for a second life.