The challenge
Our business depends on a transport network that moves our people, products and resources from place to place.

Conventionally, transport systems are powered by burning fossil fuels resulting in the production of carbon dioxide (CO2), which contributes to climate change. Transport makes up around 8% of the total carbon footprint of a carpet during its life cycle.

We deliver products to around 30 countries from our factories in the UK and the Netherlands. We must ensure our transport is as efficient as possible to minimise the CO2 emitted for every carpet tile delivered.

Our approach
To reduce the distance our carpets travel to reach customers, our factories are located in the regions we supply. Where possible, raw materials are also sourced from suppliers close to our factories.

We use outside contractors to transport our products and work with them to reduce the environmental impacts associated with transport. We promote regular training for drivers and careful planning of journeys to reduce distances travelled, fuel use, costs and emissions.

We also encourage suppliers to look for lower-carbon alternatives to diesel-powered trucks and ships. This can mean using ‘multi-modal' transport, where the most energy-efficient type of transport is used for each part of the journey, for example by switching from truck to barge or train.

We offset the CO2 emitted by our distribution network and business travel, and offer employees the opportunity to offset emissions from their journey to work.

Global progress
• 18,044 trees planted in 2010 to offset emissions from 22 million km of business air travel and car commuting for 540 employees.
• Reduced the impact of 1,8 million litres of fuel consumed in company vehicles worldwide through the retirement of 5,600 metric tonnes of offsets in 2010.
• All our transport suppliers in Europe certified to environmental standard ISO 14001.

Putting our approach into practice in Europe
Around 99.7% of the products we sell in Europe are manufactured in Europe. This reduces the distance we must transport them from our factories and so minimises our contribution to climate change.

We reduce our climate impacts from transport by:
• Using multi-modal transport that ensures energy efficiency at every stage of the journey and avoids high-emission forms of transport wherever possible.
• Grouping deliveries so that our products are transported alongside other merchandise, rather than in dedicated shipments. This helps prevent trucks travelling with partial loads, reducing emissions and saving more than €290,000 a year.
• Ensuring all our transport suppliers use modern vehicles that comply with emissions standards set out by the EU's Kyoto agreement.
• Offering financial incentives to employees in the Netherlands who ‘car pool' on more than 120 days a year.