Bringing the Nordics out into the world
The Norwegian company Vestre manufactures high-quality urban furniture and receives a great deal of interest in Nordic design and sustainability in export markets. This makes it obvious to use the Nordic Swan Ecolabel in marketing, including in the USA and Germany.
Vestre’s ambition is to be recognised as the world’s most sustainable furniture manufacturer — communicating ambitious requirements for climate, resources, chemicals, circular economy and quality.
Easier to communicate environmental standards
Producing as sustainably as possible has always been important to Vestre. They wanted a credible standard for what counts as more environmentally friendly — and chose the Nordic Swan Ecolabel for its life-cycle perspective.
“We don’t want myriads of different certifications. It’s much better to have a gold standard that everyone relates to,” says Øyvind Bjørnstad, Head of Sustainability at Vestre.
The strength of the Nordic Swan Ecolabel is that it can be compared with other global type 1 labels — important in markets where the Nordic Swan is less known, for example by referencing Blaue Engel in Germany.
Reusing materials
Vestre meets Nordic Swan requirements for recycled materials but has also explored taking products back after long use to disassemble and reuse materials in new products — keeping full material information in-house.
Vestre restores furniture after many years of use so pieces can have a new life in new projects.
Climate at the core of the business
The climate crisis has made “climate neutral” a buzzword — Vestre focuses on decarbonising the value chain rather than offsets alone, and on environment, biodiversity and social sustainability across the value chain.
“The goal must be a zero-emissions society. At Vestre we think holistically — everything is connected,” says Bjørnstad.
Facts about Vestre
Urban furniture manufacturer headquartered in Norway; Nordic Swan Ecolabel used actively in export marketing.