There is nothing "throw-away" about our furniture. The lasting
beauty of the designs has been tested by the varying tastes of
several generations. Their workmanship has stood the trials of
everyday use since 1950. And they are still going strong.
Sustainable
materials
At Carl Hansen & Søn, we first and foremost produce wooden
furniture which is designed to last for generations. A natural part
hereof is using materials of highest possible quality.
All wood used by Carl Hansen & Søn is hardwood purchased
from responsible sawmills with whom we have long, established
relationships. Due to the design and quality of our products, we
only use new wood - never recycled wood.
We use oak, beech and ash mainly from Danish forests which are
managed according to the Danish Forest Act (latest edition 2004).
This law promotes sustainable forestry incorporating ecological,
social and economic considerations. The law also stipulates that
indigenous wood supplies must not only be sustainable, but, by law,
also increase in a managed way. We also use walnut and American
Cherry for selected models. These wood types are sourced from
American forests.
Many of the chairs designed by Hans J. Wegner are made with
paper cord. Paper cord is made of paper from sustainable Swedish
forest. All paper cord is biodegradable and can be incinerated
after use.
For our soap treated wooden furniture we use 100% natural soap
based on pure vegetal oils. Our oil treated wooden furniture is
treated with oils based on plants oils. These materials do not emit
gases of any kind after they are applied.
Responsible production
processes
At Carl Hansen & Søn we are highly dependent on our skilled
employees which is why we take their wellbeing very seriously.
Our production facilities and processes meet or exceed all
European and Danish health and safety requirements, which are among
the most stringent in the world.
The physical working environment is pleasantly modern, with
natural lighting and ergonomically corrects workstations for all.
All production and administrative employees in Denmark are eligible
to receive free, regular massage to prevent long-term injury that
may be related to their work.
Danish energy consumption per capita and as compared to GNP is
among the lowest in the world. This is due both to strict
conservation practices governed by law (such as standards for
insulating buildings), high energy prices and a generation of
efforts to minimize energy costs and environmental impact.
Nonetheless, we continue to work to reduce the amount of energy
used in production in many ways, for example:
- Consistently investing in the most modern and energy-efficient
equipment
- Setting annual targets for reducing the amount of energy used
to produce the average piece of furniture
- Reducing energy waste wherever possible, such as automatically
reducing the temperature levels in production and administrative
areas when not in use.
- Scrap wood from our production is burned in approved
incinerators which generate district heating for homes.
- Shipping cartons are made to protect the furniture using as few
materials as possible
- Airfreight is kept to a minimum