Haworth’s second life program

_The quotes in this article are drawn from an interview with Haworth International’s Bernardo Silva. Bernardo is a member of the Haworth International Finance team. He oversees a pilot program analysing Haworth’s second life initiatives across EMEA and AP. The interview took place on 19 Jan 2023. _

‘There is only one planet Earth, yet by 2050, the world will be consuming as if there were three.’

The first line of the EU’s Circular Economy Plan states our global challenge in bold and sobering terms. En lieu of the damaging ‘linear pattern of “take-make-use-dispose”’ prevalent today, the Plan lays out a framework for sustainable, circular product design. Circular design principles include ‘reusability, upgradability and reparability’.

Circularity is a core concern for Bernardo Silva. ‘We live on a planet with finite resources,’ Bernardo says. He describes circularity as ‘not only important, but inevitable,’ noting that ‘sooner or later, we will have to reuse our resources.’

Bernardo is a member of Haworth International’s Finance team. In his downtime, Bernardo is a surfer; Praia do Guincho in Cascais is a favourite haunt. ‘I always like to go out and be in contact with nature and with the ocean,’ he says. This passion for protecting nature has carried over into his work with Haworth, where Bernardo heads a pilot program to analyse Haworth International’s second life initiatives.

‘My role will be to look at what we have been doing in in each country, and then come up with an aligned offer,’ he says. In a region that spans from Iceland to New Zealand, from South Africa to Japan, second life programs vary widely across geographies and cultures. Every market has distinct challenges – and opportunities.

• Bernardo Silva

One of the primary challenges to aligning second life programs is simple: geography. It is not ideal to ship furniture a great distance for refurbishing and then ship again when the refurbished goods are sold. This is a pressing issue for many projects in Asia Pacific; for markets like Singapore and Australia, refurbishing products in Haworth manufacturing facilities inherently requires a long return journey by sea. ‘That wouldn’t make a lot of sense,’ Bernardo says, because ‘all of the CO2 emissions that we have saved during the process would be spent on this, on the logistics.’

In large part due to such logistics reasons, second life programs will ideally function locally, completing the loop in each city or market where Haworth International operates. Our product life cycle analysis has found that logistics accounts for less than 6% of CO2 emissions – assuming transportation distance is 1000 miles (1600 kilometres) or less. In order to balance the benefits of the second life program with the negative impact of logistics, Haworth initially aims to support second life programs within 1600 km of our manufacturing facilities. Fortunately, due to the smaller distances between countries, Haworth facilities in Portugal and Poland can support the vast majority of Europe with in-house refurbishment. In Asia Pacific, that radius includes most of our sales in India and China; for the markets not within that radius, the pilot program will aim to identify trusted local refurbishment partners.

‘The goal is to operate more locally,’ Bernard says. ‘The markets where we have plants, we can do the refreshment in-house.’ For example, Haworth can refresh and refurbish products in or near Portugal in the Queluz facility. Many core products are already produced in Queluz, which streamlines the refresh and refurbishment processes. In those markets where Haworth does not have a plant, the aim is to find a local partner.

With this combination of in-house initiatives and local partnerships, what is the state of Haworth’s second life program today?

- Bernardo Silva

Haworth International second life programs currently fall into two categories: buyback/resell and refurbishment. These second life initiatives focus on the highest volume products, like Zody task chairs.

1 – Buyback and resell

Under the buyback and resell model, Haworth repurchases products from a client. This buyback comes in the form of credits that can be used on Haworth products. The repurchased products are refreshed by Haworth or a local partner before being sold on the second-hand market.

 

2 – Refurbishment

Some clients don’t want to part with their existing products – they simply want them refurbished. For these clients, Haworth or a local partner do a thorough cleaning, check for issues, and replace any component that needs replacing. The client receives good-as-new products that are ready to start a fruitful second chapter.

Working with local partners has numerous social benefits

Haworth often works with local community partners to refresh or refurbish Haworth furniture. Local partnerships are the sensible choice in markets where Haworth does not have local in-house capability, but they do not only reduce logistics impact – they also deepen the connection between the community and the local Haworth team. Social inclusion and circularity are intimately linked; circular community efforts often expand job opportunities. The EU’s Circular Economy Plan notes that ‘the social economy… is a pioneer in job creation linked to the circular economy’.

 

For example, Haworth partners with Label Emmaus in France to refurbish used Zody chairs. With ‘Label Emmaus, we are working with people far away from the labour market,’ Bernardo says. The impact of such programs is far-reaching; the refurbishment of each Zody contributes to 2.5 hours of social employment. Haworth works with other local partners in France, the UK and the Netherlands, and is laying the groundwork for second life programs in Poland and Spain.

Giving people and the things we use a second chance for a sustainable future

What’s next: imagining a more circular future

In the short-term, the goal is to expand on the snapshot of initiatives above. More buyback, refurbishment, and local partnership plans are in the works, both in countries where these programs exist and in countries where they do not.

Bernardo also has some long-term dreams in mind for our second life initiatives.

 

Expand the portfolio of products included in second life programs

‘The ideal scenario would be… to have a second life program for most of our products,’ Bernardo says. Current programs by necessity focus on the highest-volume products, like Zody task chairs. Bernardo would like to expand second life programs to the rest of the portfolio, lengthening the lives of as many products as possible.

 

Refurbish Haworth and non-Haworth products alike

Current programs focus on Haworth products. Bernardo is exploring how to apply Haworth International’s refurbishment expertise to non-Haworth products, because clients looking to extend product lifespans often have a mix of furniture from various manufacturers.

 

Offer second life products on the B2C market

Currently, second life programs focus on high volume products to maximise impact; the primary partners are businesses looking for relatively high volumes of products. As second life programs widen, Bernardo hopes to offer individual consumers the chance to buy refurbished products from Haworth directly.

 

Codesign second life programs with our supply chain partners

One possibility is to look up the supply chain, partnering with the manufacturers of specific components to run second life initiatives for those parts. ‘We’ve already started to have conversations with some suppliers,’ Bernardo says. ‘It would be very interesting to have a second life not only for our products, but also for our supply chain’.

 

Develop more local partnerships

Following the model with Label Emmaus and other local community partners, Bernardo hopes to form more community partnerships. With these trusted partners, Haworth International can ‘employ people that are far away from the labour market,’ Bernardo says. This is a way to be ‘not only sustainable, but also socially responsible.’

 

Conclusion: the future is circular

Whatever the future of product design holds, one thing is certain: it will be more circular with every passing year. Bernardo – among many other dedicated professionals at Haworth International – is working to accelerate circularity by refining and expanding second life programs.