Ethical Corporation: What makes this approach so relevant in your opinion?
Stef Kranendijk: The carpet industry in the UK alone disposes of 600,000 tonnes of used carpet into landfill every year. In France and Germany it is generally incinerated. With the seven billionth human being about to be born, we have to think of new ways to reduce our waste of resources. I passionately believe we should all be much smarter about how we design products and use resources. Instead of worrying about cutting back on everything, this way we can then offer hope to future generations. We need go from the linear economy to the circular economy where resources and materials are in a continuous loop.
Ethical Corporation: Why did you think cradle-to-cradle would be beneficial for Desso?
Stef Kranendijk: Quite apart from helping to shape a world in which we can promote economic growth and wealth without denigrating our resources, it's in our own commercial interest. The architects and designers we work with are enormously impressed by our approach. Our customers are pleased to be able to buy greener products as well.
Ethical Corporation: How is this approach changing the way Desso does business?
Stef Kranendijk: Take our carpet tiles, which represent half our business. We've put 90% of these under rigorous assessment to get rid of all unwanted chemical components. They all have detailed phase-out plans to get rid of any unacceptable materials. As part of this process, we've developed a new carpet backing called EcoBase, which is 100% safely recyclable.
