Desso, a global carpets, carpet tiles and sports pitches company and De Lage Landen, a global provider of leasing, business and consumer finance solutions joined forces to offer Desso's customers a leasing service option, a critical step in the company's transition to the circular economy.
Since 2008, Desso has been following Cradle to Cradle® principles in order to design its products in such a way that they can be safely disassembled and recycled at the end of the product's life.
This is part of the company's vision to make the floor work for our health and wellbeing. Cradle to Cradle® puts great focus on ensuring your materials contain the healthiest ingredients, as analysed against a set of human health and environmental criteria.
In the long term, the shift to the circular economy, in which goods are made to be remade again and again, businesses will be able to unlock new wealth and put less pressure on the earth's natural resources. One recent report1) from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the management consultancy McKinsey & Co., calculated that a part of the EU's manufacturing industry could make material savings of up to $630 billion per year by moving to circular models.
One of the keys to making this change is to come up with innovative new service models, notably leasing. Instead of owning a product, customers view it as a service provided by a supplier, who will then take back the product at the end of its life for recycling.
"Desso has reached a number of milestones in recent years including the Cradle to Cradle® certification of 90% of its commercial carpet tiles and the development of DESSO EcoBase®, a C2C Silver Certified carpet tile backing of which the polyolefin based layer is fully and safely recyclable in our own production system. Now with help from De Lage Landen we are starting to take the next step in offering leasing, which will offer a full service to our customers including installation, cleaning, maintenance and eventually removal, which will also make it easier for us to take our goods back after its use and close the loop."
Alexander Collot d’Escury, CEO Desso
Since 2008, Desso has been developing a Take Back™ system, supported by its Refinity® separation technique that both enables the company to take back carpets from its competitors as well as its own customers and separate the yarn and other fibres from the backing producing two main material stream which both can be recycled.
"We are, of course, delighted to join forces with Desso in this groundbreaking move towards the circular economy. This tailor made, full service lease solution fits perfectly in our aim to further develop our concept of life cycle asset management: reducing waste and recycling raw materials by reusing predesigned parts in the value chain. In the long run, we hope to see service models like this grow and shift the world economy to a much more innovative and sustainable position, enabling economic growth to take place within the means of the planet. We are also thrilled that a company in the Netherlands is taking the lead in this way."
Milko Wijckmans, President of De Lage Landen Financial Solutions
During 11 - 13 September, Desso participated in discussions with world business and political leaders at the World Economic Forum's Annual Champions Meeting2) in Dalian, China on how to scale up the circular economy. Involving leaders from the world's top companies, these discussions will continue at further World Economic Forum meetings including the Davos Summit in January 2014.
1) Towards the Circular Economy - Volume One, Ellen MacArthur Foundation & McKinsey (2012).
2) For more information go to: http://www.weforum.org/events/annual-meeting-new-champions-2013
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