Both partners attach great importance to the responsible use of natural resources. “We need high-quality, environmentally friendly and durable materials in order to maintain our high sustainability standards in production. For EGGER , the sustainable procurement and processing of wood is a matter of course. We’re just a good fit for each other,” says Daniel Kahnwald. Michael Kamsties, Area Sales Manager for Industry at EGGER, agrees with this assessment wholeheartedly: “Sustainability is a key consideration for us when selecting our business partners. After all, we not only want to fulfil the ecological specifications and legal requirements with regard to FSC and PEFC certification, but also to act as a market role model for sustainable action.”
Transparency right from the start
This is an aim that the two companies have been implementing successfully for years: 100 per cent of the wood used in purchasing is PEFC and FSC-verified sustainable timber, the EGGER products made from legally harvested wood also bear the “100% verified in accordance with ISO 38200” label. EGGER's customers and business partners can find out what is actually behind these figures and awards in the company’s Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), which contain extensive information on the material, including details on manufacturing processes and how the resources are used, for example. But that's not all. “The Environmental Product Declarations also contain the results of a cradle-togate life cycle assessment,” says Michael Kamsties. “This data enables planners, designers and architects to make verified product comparisons from an ecological point of view, thus promoting the manufacture of sustainable products.”
“We know exactly what we’re working with”
It is precisely this transparency that Daniel Kahnwald particularly appreciates in his collaboration with EGGER: "The melamine-faced chipboard we source from EGGER is one of our key product components, along with steel. This makes it all the more important that we know exactly what materials we’re working with. After all, we already observe certain specifications during development, such as making sure the product is designed as efficiently as possible and that environmentally friendly and durable materials are used. Taking these sustainability criteria into account also provides the basis for product certifications.” These include the Blauer Engel certification, which has been awarded to ASSMANN's core products since 1998, and the European sustainability certificate for office furniture, FEMB Level. To fulfil the requirements for the highest FEMB level (Level 3), as our products do, demanding sustainability standards need to be met, including precise material and product knowledge, efficient use of resources, recyclability, safe handling of chemicals, and low packaging costs. These strict rules also apply to new products, such as the Smart Locker. Accordingly, careful checks are carried out in advance to ensure that the product fulfils the required sustainability criteria, as Daniel Kahnwald explains: “When it came to including the Smart Locker in our product portfolio, we took a close look at the product composition and obtained additional information on details such as the content of the materials. Thanks to our precise knowledge of the materials, we were then able to provide a figure for the recycled content and calculate the product’s carbon footprint.” The proportion of recycled materials used to manufacture our FEMB Level 3-certified products is currently 41 per cent.
Recyclability of materials is becoming increasingly important
Recycling in particular is playing an increasingly important role in the manufacture of office furniture. The melamine-faced chipboard used by ASSMANN, for example, has a high recycled content and a long service life. The company already takes material recycling into account directly in its production processes. Daniel Kahnwald: “To increase recyclability at the end of the life cycle, we have put in place clearly defined design guidelines. Among other things, we don’t use any permanent connections between different materials. This helps keep disassembly simple and allows the components to be collected and recycled separately. With plastics, we also make sure that the components contain material codes so they can be recycled more easily.” As an experienced partner, EGGER also plays an important role when it comes to recycling. At the end of its life cycle, the melamine-faced chipboard can be delivered here, recycled and reused. This process saves considerable resources and ultimately makes the material cycle a closed loop, explains Michael Kamsties. However, he also sees potential for further optimisation in this area: “78 per cent of the wood used at our Brilon plant already comes from sawmill by-products like wood chips and sawdust, waste from the furniture industry, and recycled waste wood from end customers. But I am sure that we can increase this figure even further if we all keep pulling together.”
Materials – our results in detail
Material consumption
In order to analyse our consumption, we record the quantities of materials supplied by our most important suppliers every year. We attach great importance to recording the exact composition of materials, particularly those received from material suppliers, in order to allow us to determine the environmental impact of the products as accurately as possible. In the case of retail goods, we mainly determine the total weight of the materials consumed. In 2023, ASSMANN received a total of around 24,400 tonnes of material, plus almost 1,100 tonnes of retail goods.
As in previous years, the largest material consumption of 61.2 per cent (15,600 tonnes) was accounted for by wood, in particular melamine-coated chipboard. We use chipboard from sustainable forestry in accordance with our PEFC certification. Steel is the second largest item at around 24.8 per cent (6,320 tonnes) and is used for table frames, shelves and bases for cabinets, among other things. The proportion of plastic was 2.5 per cent (642 tonnes). In addition, 0.5 per cent (116 tonnes) of other materials were used for electronic components, such as copper wire. Due to the high environmental impacts of the raw materials, the collection of these materials is of great importance and is included in our carbon accounting, for example (see “Climate” section).
Waste
In 2023, the waste resulting from the cutting of raw chipboard in ASSMANN's production amounted to 16.8 per cent in relation to all material thicknesses. This represents an improvement of 0.63 percentage points compared to the previous year. For the highest-selling raw chipboard (25 millimetres), the waste was 18.1 per cent. An improvement of 0.91 percentage points has been achieved here over the past year. We are aiming for a further reduction in overall waste in the coming years. The wood waste is burned in our in-house combustion plant to produce thermal energy (see “Climate” section).
Output and product certifications
A total of 18,581 tonnes of finished products left our production facility. This corresponds to a decrease of 6 per cent compared to the previous year, but more retail goods were distributed than in previous years (1,077 tonnes). The largest proportion of our output is accounted for by desks (45 per cent) at 8,264 tonnes and cabinets (41 per cent) at 7,506 tonnes. All our core products are certified to FEMB Level 3 and carry the Blauer Engel ecolabel. We plan to publish product declarations in 2025 in order to communicate the environmental information on our products transparently. These will include information on the proportion of recycled content in our products and our carbon footprint.
Packaging and waste
With regard to the packaging used, we differentiate between incoming material deliveries and outgoing deliveries of finished products. Around 930 tonnes of packaging were used in incoming deliveries, mainly in the form of pallets and protective sheets for the products. As the recording of packaging is complicated due to the variety of materials, this is currently an approximate value. We work closely with our main suppliers to continuously optimise packaging, particularly through the use of reusable solutions and the reduction of unnecessary wrapping.
ASSMANN used 353 tonnes of packaging materials for outgoing deliveries, including 225 tonnes of cardboard and 109 tonnes of wooden packaging. While hardly any packaging was used for our main products in domestic sales, the majority of our packaging was used for international shipping and for the protection and transport of retail goods and spare parts.
Proper disposal of packaging and other operational waste ensures that recyclable materials can be returned to the cycle. In 2023, operational waste amounted to 1,358 tonnes, a decrease of 10 per cent compared to the previous year. This is due to both the lower production volume (–6 per cent) and the reduction in packaging materials on incoming deliveries. Around 80 per cent of the waste consisted of chipboard residues, which were either recycled or used to generate heat. Residual waste that was thermally recycled accounted for 2.2 per cent. In 2024, we aim to have our suppliers recycle almost all of the edge trim waste. This results in a potential saving of around 5 tonnes of residual waste per year and will enable the production of more recycled products.
Our targets for the future
| Area | Target | Unit | Key fig. 2023 | Key fig. 2024 | Target 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edge trimmings | We intend for the supplier to take back and subsequently recycle almost all of the edge trimmings | Quantity of recycled edge trimmings in kg | 0 | 4,000 | 5,000 |
| Chipboard offcuts | Chipboard waste is to be further reduced using more efficient cutting plans | ||||
| Certifications | The FEMB level certification is to be expanded in 2025 to include the “meeting boxes” and “dividing screen” product ranges | ||||
| Product information | In 2025, environmental declarations are to be created for 100 per cent of FEMB level-certified products, which will include information on the proportion of recycled content and the carbon footprint |