As designers and makers of products, we are acutely aware that our work has an impact on the planet and are taking science-based actions to help build a more sustainable future.
Our choices focus on three significant areas of impact:
Reduce Our Carbon Footprint
We reduce our carbon footprint by working towards and meeting more ambitious climate goals at a greater global scale than anyone in our industry.
Design for Circularity
We design for circularity by implementing impactful reuse, recycling and remanufacturing strategies across our entire product design and delivery process.
Choose and Use Materials Responsibly
We choose and use materials responsibly by sourcing and selecting materials that are healthier for people and the planet, and managing resources such as water and energy wisely.
Designing for Product Sustainability
As designers and makers of products, we are acutely aware that our work has an impact on the planet and are taking science-based actions to help build a more sustainable future.
See how Steelcase designs products for sustainability.
Products for a Better Planet
Steelcase Karman
A lighter impact on the planet, Steelcase Karman uses less materials and the least number of components necessary. Weighing only 29 pounds, it’s one of the lightest work chairs in the industry.
Think
Designed with fewer parts for quick and easy disassembly, Think can be taken apart in just five minutes for recycling.
Everwall
Everwall is a modular, prefabricated wall system designed with the principles of reducing waste on site, reusing materials and recyclability.
Elective Elements
Elective Elements is made in the Steelcase Wood Plant which has made strides to reduce carbon emissions and production waste, and sources FSC®-certified wood whenever possible.
Answer panel systems
Answer’s durability and frame construction allows for reconfiguration, reuse and an extended useful life now with more planet friendly enhancements including reduction in packaging and using reclaimed paint.
Steelcase Flex Privacy Wrap
Using knit to fit, zero-waste technology with less energy, the Privacy Wrap textile is perfectly engineered to fit the unique curves and contours of the screens, eliminating material waste and increasing recyclability.
Steelcase Flex Perch with Ultramid
Steelcase Flex Perch is the first furniture product to use a sustainable innovation called Cyling™ that transforms recycled content from electronics production waste into a like-new raw material, which is also 100% recyclable.
Beyond + Renewed Loop
Gabriel’s Beyond and Renewed Loop are created from a blend of textile waste from Steelcase manufacturing, which is shredded and melted into pellets. These are then mixed with post-consumer recycled polyester from used plastic bottles. The result is fabrics that can continuously be recycled within an infinite closed loop.
Café Leather
Café leather is a by-product of the food industry, diverting hides from entering landfill. It is finished without use of solvents or lead. It is produced in a facility which is powered by 100% green electric supply and green natural gas.
SoftNext
SoftNext is a newly launched textile that is made from 100% post-consumer recycled polyester. This textile can be used across a range of products including both seating and vertical applications.
new black
Panel fabric scraps from the Steelcase production process are re-spun into black thread, which is then paired with a white recycled polyester thread. The result is New Black, which is made of 100% recycled material.
Designtex Loop to Loop
Designtex’s Loop to Loop yarn was created by upcycling the company’s own textile waste, which resulted in a new yarn for ongoing textile developments.
intersection
Intersection is an innovative material that comes from marine waste collected by local European fisherman then turned into a durable fabric.
victor 2
Victor2® encourages recycling — its streamlined design with interchangeable inserts can be customized to specific needs and make it easier for people to sort waste into the right disposal or recycling stream.
Kwickscreen
KwickScreen is reducing carbon emissions and waste from single-use curtains by creating cleanable, reusable curtains in clinical spaces. A sustainable, longer-lasting alternative to traditional disposable curtains, they can last more than five years.
Mattiazzi Cugino Soft
Cugino Soft is made of construction timber, which is faster growing and more renewable than oak. All Mattiazzi furniture is made from sustainably sourced, FSC ®-certified and PEFC wood.
Viccarbe Funda
The Funda collection is made to last — designed with metal structures and a replaceable upholstered seat to extend their lifecycle indefinitely. Both Funda’s metal and fabric can be recycled independently.
Blu Dot Decade
Using recycled plastic-polypropylene and glass fiber and being Red List Free according to Declare and the Living Building Challenge criteria, Decade embodies Blu Dot’s environmentally friendly practices.
Bolia Seed
Made from 85% recycled plastic and FSC®-certified wood, the Seed Armchair combines modern style with sustainability.
Coalesse Less than Five
A first of its kind using lightweight carbon fiber in workplace furniture, the LessThanFive® chair weighs under five pounds, resulting in less fuel being used during transportation, lowering carbon emissions and promoting a more environmentally friendly supply chain.
Surround/Regard
Surround® uses the same parts as the Regard® lounge system to support modularity and efficiencies in assembly and operations. Components are designed for easy assembly, reconfigurability and replacement between the two products, allowing reuse for years to come.
Flos – Alemendra
Flos Alemendra is assembled with total absence of glued components so that it can be completely separated for future recyclability.
Nanimarquina – Shade
The Shade Outdoor collection was created from 100% recycled PET. PET is produced from recovering and reusing polyethylene waste, such as plastic bottles, to result in a flexible fiber that is wear resistant.
Mattiazzi Facile Bench
The Facile Bench is made from sustainably sourced, FSC®-certified and PEFC wood.
Ocular
Ocular is our most recent product with a Red List Approved Declare label, making it one of 16 Steelcase products with this rigorous certification that discloses materials transparency.
Bassline Sustainable Table Collaboration
The Bassline table base is a sustainable way to revamp a room. We took its sustainable design one step further by collaborating with three suppliers, Chop Value, Cambium Carbon, and Azure Furniture, who share our commitments to a better future.
Carbon Neutral Collection
CarbonNeutral® product Certification Supports
RENEWABLE ENERGY
This project advances innovation, infrastructure and the adoption of clean, affordable energy around the world.
FOREST MANAGEMENT
Protects 156,000 acres of Boreal forests in British Columbia, Canada, for biodiversity, research, sustainable harvesting and carbon sequestration.
EFFICIENT COOKSTOVES
Makes cleaner, locally manufactured cookstoves for families in rural Kenya.
ELECTRIC TRANSPORTATION
Supports electric rail systems that reduce emissions and provide safe, efficient, cost-effective transportation in India with significant population and pollution-related deaths.
