MillerKnoll has announced a sustainability strategy focused on delivering three commitments:
- Carbon – strive to design the lowest carbon-footprint products and commit to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
- Materials: Working to use sustainable, 100% bio-based or recycled materials by 2050.
- Circularity: aim to design timeless, durable products with zero waste by 2050.
Tired of empty sustainability promises, once I say phrases like ‘strive to,’ ‘working to.’ and ‘aim to’ I almost didn’t bother reading let alone writing about this initiative. However, in their Better World report for 2024, the company claims to have already made some substantial reductions in their environmental impacts and it has specific strategies outlined to achieve these ambitious goals.
For example:
- 75% of the electricity used by the company already comes from renewable sources.
- In 2024, they completed energy audits of their largest factories and expect to curb GHG emissions by 1,845 tonnes CO2 annually.
- An updated version 2 of the Mirra office chair was launched in 2024, 30% lighter than the original version cutting the chair’s carbon footprint to 64.2 kg CO2.
- They have reduced use of single-use plastic packaging by 52% since 2020.
Goals
- Transition to 100% renewable electricity by FY2026
- Achieve a 25% reduction in the carbon footprint of the top 100 products by FY2030
- Achieve 90% sustainably harvested, ethically sourced natural materials by FY2030
- Achieve zero landfill for our top 5 manufacturing sites by FY2030
- Eliminate single-use plastic packaging for MillerKnoll manufacturing sites by FY2030.
MillerKnoll is much more than just Herman Miller and Knoll (as if that wasn’t big enough!). The company now owns 15 brands including Muuto and Hay and achieved US$3.6 billion in 2024, that’s a lot of furniture – even at their prices! Of course, this report was written before the States turned orange, how that will impact commitments going forward remains to be seen. Hopefully, with a good track record and the company committed to a detailed strategy it can continue to strive to hit its ambitious goals.
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