Kährs has successfully in 2019 renewed its license and certification for the Nordic Swan Ecolabel, the official ecolabel of the Nordic countries. To date, more than 180 of Kährs' wood floors are ecolabelled.
There are many stringent requirements in order to receive ecolabel certification, such as auditing of material content, certified wood sourcing, chemicals approval, indoor air quality, air-, water- and ground emissions submittals, licensed recycling program, renewable energy, efficient resource usage, and waste disposal all must be achieved.
The Nordic Swan Ecolabel criteria is built upon a life cycle assessment perspective–from raw material to end of life–and only the environmentally best products receive the Nordic Swan Ecolabel. It is an effective program for helping companies that are working on sustainable solutions, while helping consumers and professional buyers to choose environmentally sound goods and services. The ecolabel puts a very high demand on environment, health, quality, and product functionality, and certification demands are increased every three years, after review.
The Nordic Swan Ecolabel is also directly associated with the UN’s global Sustainable Development Goals targets on sustainable production and consumption (Goal 12 in the UN SDG Agenda 2030), and it is one of the SDG targets that Kährs is focusing on in its business operations.
“The first Kährs floors were labelled in 2013 and today more than 180 wood floors are certified in accordance with the Nordic Swan Ecolabel, which is in line with Kährs’ sustainability program," said Bruce Uhler, sustainability manager for Kährs Group. "By increasing the sustainable requirements on our products, the raw material, and our manufacturing processes, the Nordic Swan Ecolabel provides effective support in Kährs efforts to bring more sustainable products to the market."
Lukas Sjölén, business area manager at Ecolabelling Sweden, added, “For 30 years the Nordic Swan Ecolabel has influenced how companies can adapt and offer more sustainable manufacturing and thus contribute to a more sustainable development, which today is more important than ever, to reduce companies’ carbon footprint. It is fantastic to see how different sectors make efforts to reach the global environment and climate targets, whether it is sustainable produced flooring as in this case, ecolabelled investment funds or chain stores. Together we are pushing products and market segments in a sustainable direction.”Earlier this year, Sverre Severinsen, Kährs managing director for Norway, was awarded the Nordic Swan Ecolabel Honorary Award for his dedication to environmental issues and his efforts within Kährs’ to have its parquet flooring audited and certified by the Nordic Swan Ecolabel. It is a work that is based on the knowledge that wood, as a raw material, is characterized by its sustainable attributes and that wood resources should be handled in a wise and efficient way.
For more information, visit www.kahrsgroup.com.
