Respecting the environment

We want to reduce our negative affect on the environment and therefore we continuously work to develop as a company and think in more sustainable solutions.

BETTER COTTON

Cotton is a natural and renewable material. Still there are major environmental challenges as conventional cotton production uses large amounts of pesticides, chemical fertilisers, and water.

Fortunately, there are more sustainable ways of producing cotton than conventional cotton production.

At JYSK, we want to contribute to making the world’s cotton production more sustainable. Therefore, we are committed to sourcing 100% of our cotton for textile products as more sustainable cotton by the end of 2024.

By more sustainable we mean either organic cotton, recycled cotton, or cotton sourced as Better Cotton.

Textile products covers a considerable part of our range, as it includes all items where at least 80% of the weight of the item is made of textile, such as duvet cover sets and towels.

What is Better Cotton?

JYSK is a member of Better Cotton, which is the world’s largest initiative for more sustainable cotton.

Better Cotton have trained more than two million cotton farmers in 23 different countries in how to produce cotton in a more sustainable way, that is for example using less water and pesticides as well as reaching higher yield.

Changing the sector

The goal of Better Cotton is to change the production of cotton on a global scale so that in the long term all cotton will be produced in a more sustainable way than it is today. In other words, they want to change the whole sector by setting a new standard.

In JYSK, we are proud to contribute to the worldwide sector change by committing to sourcing 100% of our cotton for textile products as more sustainable cotton by the end of 2024.

Mass-balance

Cotton sourced as Better Cotton is not physically traceable from field to end product, because segregation throughout the entire cotton supply chain is very complicated and costly. By providing a system which is simple and less costly, the demand will grow and the amount of Better Cotton will grow on a global scale.

Instead of traceability on a product level, Better Cotton operates with a mass-balance system, which covers the entire global cotton supply chain. Simply put, it means what comes out must balance with what went in. In other words, Better Cotton constantly watches that the amount of cotton sourced as Better Cotton is equivalent to the amount that was produced by Better Cotton farmers.

Responsible forestry

FSC™ is short for Forest Stewardship Council™. It is a non-profit organisation and labelling system for wood and paper, which originate from sustainable forestry or other responsible sources. The FSC label concerns both environmental, social and economic responsibility.

In FSC forests, no more trees are felled than the forest can naturally replace, and strict requirements are set for use of pesticides and chemicals to protect the water environment. FSC also sets a number of social requirements, among other things ensuring that the people who work in the forests have decent working conditions, are provided with training and safety equipment, and get fair wages. In FSC forests, the indigenous population and locals have the right to use the forests and the local area benefits from the earnings from the forest.

Since 2006, JYSK has been a member of FSC Denmark and all wooden garden furniture in JYSK is FSC-certified (FSC™ N001715).

However, it does not end there. JYSK continuously strives to increase the amount of FSC-certified products in our assortment, and by the end of 2024, all JYSK products and packaging made from wood, cardboard or paper will be FSC-certified.

Furthermore, JYSK contributes to put focus on responsible forestry, for example through the FSC WEEK.

Global Recycled Standard (GRS)

Minimising the amount of waste and instead recycling the resources is a way to reduce the impact on the environment and climate.

JYSK is certified according to the GRS (CU-1050252). Only the products which carry the GRS label and claim are certified.

The GRS is an international, voluntary standard that verifies recycled material and tracks it from the recycler to the final product. This means that products carrying the GRS label contain recycled material that has been independently verified at each stage of the supply chain.

Increasing the amount of recycled content in the products is an important part of JYSK’s sustainability work, and the number of products that are fully or partly made from recycled materials is increasing.

Packaging

In JYSK, we constantly work to make our packaging more sustainable.

The main purpose of the packaging is to secure that the product is protected during transportation so that our customers get a good experience with our products. At the same time, we are aware of the importance of using the right kind of packaging and using as little as possible.

We are changing materials used for packaging on an ongoing basis. We are currently working to implement a new packaging design for all our products, which is more sustainable. Solid cardboard with simple product drawings is replacing the coloured boxes with photos.

This means we will be using less colour printing, and at the same time, we require that the amount of FSC-certified cardboard will increase continuously. Inside the boxes, we constantly try to minimise the amount of plastic and polystyrene, for example by replacing them with recyclable packaging made from cardboard.

Plastic

We have decided to remove all single-use plastic from our product assortment, and we continue to work on optimising the use of plastic for example by using recycled plastic in our products.

Among other things, we have replaced our grey SMARTSTORE boxes with a version made of 100% recycled plastic, and we will continuously introduce more products made of 100% recycled plastic.