Orangebox

‘Our environmental ambition has forced our business to change for the better and we’re proud of that. Our customers are aware of the responsibilities we have as a manufacturer so we have to provide intelligent solutions to meet their business needs. Our environmental agenda is our business agenda and Ecodesign plays a critical role in that process.’
Luke Palmer, Designer, Orangebox Limited

Between September 2007 and August 2008, the Ecodesign Centre (EDC) ran 12-month ecodesign demonstration projects with four Welsh SMEs from priority sectors (electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), general manufacturing, food and drink and low-carbon technology sectors), via a bespoke, multi-level Ecodesign Support Package (ESP).

The selected SME for the manufacturing sector is Orangebox, a UK market leader in the research, development, manufacture and service of seating for the commercial environment. The company designs and manufactures for the UK and European business to business markets.

Orangebox’s key strength is responding to changes in the work place and enabling businesses, and their working environment, to be flexible. The company strives to look beyond the formal desk and meeting room and offer a single source solution for all seating applications.

Orangebox and the environment 

Orangebox has worked consistently to improve their environmental performance for over a decade. They have already looked at the design and production elements of the business along with their supply chain and overall business model. This commitment has been recognised and their manufacturing facility has been in receipt of a number of awards: 

• Winner of 2002 Wales Environment Award (50-250 employees)
• 2001 Green Dragon Environmental Standard
• 1999 UK Best Small Factory Award
• Winner of 1999 Wales Environment Award for the Best Workforce

Office furniture production tends to require material and components from a range of suppliers. This poses challenges when determining the full life cycle impacts of the product. The greatest environmental impacts are generally in the production phase resource consumption, production phase emissions, production phase energy consumption, transportation and end-of-life (EOL) treatment.

Main drivers for ecodesign project

The task and office furniture sector is under increasing scrutiny from end-users in relation to the environmental performance of their products. Sustainable procurement demands have significantly increased in the last number of years.

The sector is also recognising significant commercial benefits through ecodesign and improved environmental performance through reduced waste treatment costs and improved brand equity. More recently there is an increased interest in the role of carbon footprinting and “Cradle to Cradle” (C2C) design strategies.

Orangebox project – “cradle to cradle”

Through their initial project proposal Orangebox indicated an interest in undertaking a C2C design project. As a forward thinking company, they wanted to be the first UK company in their sector to achieve C2C accreditation and build on their experiences and successes with carbon footprinting and other environmental initiatives.

The work with EDC coincided with the development of the new ‘task’ chair. Following the initial project scoping meetings Orangebox commissioned the Environmental Protection and Encouragement Agency (EPEA) in Hamburg to work on the C2C certification.

The role of EPEA was to scientifically analyse the materials contained within the newly designed task chair to highlight and categorise those with the highest environmental and toxicological impacts. This C2C accreditation program applies to materials, sub-assemblies and finished products.

One of the key considerations throughout the C2C process was the sustainability of the process without a functioning infrastructure for the EOL management of their products. EDC and Orangebox initiated a program of research and capacity building around the potential for an EOL system to support any C2C activity in the company. These activities are still ongoing.

Initial outcomes 

Orangebox will communicate the environmentally superior design features of their new task chair in the coming months. These features include product light weighting through a mono-material backing unit, improved assembly and disassembly times and improved overall resource efficiency.

The rate of change within the company has increased significantly over the last number of months. There is still further work required on both a strategic and operational level to develop the EOL system.

Click here to read about the launch of Orangebox new Cradle to Cradle ‘task’ chair, named Ara.

Click here to access Orangebox's No Green Bull presentation.