Environment

General

Reducing the ecological footprint is a key objective of Beter Bed Holding’s CSR policy. The policy covers a broad spectrum of topics including saving energy, reducing CO₂ emissions, using less packaging, using less environmentally hazardous substances in the products sold and promoting the circular economy. This is in line with the ambitions formulated at the climate summit in Paris and CSR Netherlands’ Ambition Report 2020.

The ecological footprint

Beter Bed Holding has made reducing the CO₂ emissions per square meter of sales floor surface a top priority since 2010 and as a result it has reduced its footprint by 20% over the past years. Energy audits were carried out successfully at eight locations in the Netherlands in 2016. The course of energy consumption over the past years is shown in the table below:

The carbon footprint

Beter Bed Holding is committed to limiting the emission of greenhouse gases by efficiently using the sources of energy that are necessary for business operations. The emission of greenhouse gases is calculated using the indicators of the GHG Protocol; greenhouse gases are reported in kilogrammes of CO₂.

The CO₂ emissions

CO₂ emissions totalled 14,361 tonnes in 2016, which is a decrease of 28.1% compared to 2015. This decrease was achieved primarily through efforts in the field of electricity. The primary contribution to this reduction was made by Matratzen Concord, which switched to green electricity in October 2015 and as a result CO₂ emissions in Germany fell by 95%. Beter Bed Netherlands also made an important contribution towards achieving this result by reducing CO₂ emissions in the stores by 698 tonnes since 2014 due to the remodellings.

The stores and offices of Beter Bed Holding are not located in the vicinity of nature reserves with a high level of biodiversity. The company therefore does not report on this topic.

Waste

The total amount of waste fell by 5% to 3,600 tonnes in 2016. The figures fit in with the trend whereby the amount of waste has been reduced by 39% since 2010. The objective to take back, separate and recycle packaging materials was also achieved in 2016. In order to make a better contribution to realising a circular economy, the company will remain in dialogue with its waste processors and suppliers with the aim of finding a solution that will enable used mattresses to be used in new products.