We are proud to announce that four of our product qualities have now achieved C2C Silver certification! This upgrade from C2C Bronze to C2C Silver is an important step in our ongoing commitment to sustainability and creating products that are not only of top quality, but also contribute to a circular economy.
What is cradle to cradle?
Cradle to Cradle (C2C) is a globally recognised label that assesses the sustainability of products based on reusability, health and environmental impact. The C2C Silver certification underlines our commitment to providing innovative flooring solutions that both minimise environmental impact and meet the highest standards for quality and design.
Within the C2C certification, there are four levels: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum. The higher the level, the stricter the criteria become. Our products were assessed within five domains: Health of materials, Circularity of products, Air and climate protection, Water and soil management and Social justice. We were awarded the C2C Silver certificate, meaning that our lowest score achieved within the five domains was Silver.
How is the Silver certificate different from the Bronze certificate?
Material health: Whereas we previously checked 75% of materials, we now check 95%. Almost everything in our products is now thoroughly analysed for safety and sustainability. We completely avoid risky substances such as certain chemical compounds.
Circularity products: For Bronze certification, only 50% of our materials had to be reusable or recyclable, now at least 70% but for this component our products already achieved Gold certification. We work with partners to ensure that our products are reused or recycled after use. We have also set up a clear strategy to make our products even more circular. For instance, we offer a full-circle service, from production and installation to disposal and recycling of our products. We even reprocess some of the recycled carpet in our processes. Did you know that in the right circumstances, we also take used carpet back for recycling free of charge?
Air and climate protection: Whereas we used to get 5% of our energy from renewable sources, this has now increased to at least 20%. For example, we have our own wind turbines that power the entire site when there is enough wind! In addition, we measure the CO₂ emissions of our materials and processes accurately and actively work to reduce them further.
Water and soil management: Bronze certification required us to implement only basic water management measures. Meanwhile, we are implementing active improvements that show measurable positive effects. We not only monitor water use and quality, but also work with our key suppliers to reduce polluting wastewater. For example, we are working on a completely new production process that will consume up to 40% less water in the entire production chain of our products.
Social justice: While we had a risk analysis and policy for Bronze, we now collect specific data from tier 1 suppliers in high-risk countries and monitor corrective actions more closely. We have also set up a management system to better implement our human rights policy. In addition, we now support a social impact project and ensure that the materials we use are certified to prevent risks such as child labour and forced labour. This is how we make our supply chain even more responsible.
We are proud to take this step and look forward to continuing to build a circular world together with our customers!
Did you know?
That our products lose C2C certification after 2 years, unless we achieve better certification. So this label not only stands for the sustainability of our products and production processes, but is also a commitment to keep innovating and improving. In the case of our Expocare collection, we have to be ready to achieve C2C Gold by 2026, otherwise we will no longer be allowed to mention the label.