Colebrook Bosson Saunders (CBS) is concerned about the future of the world we live in. From developing our award-winning ergonomic products that improve the health and well being of the global workforce to ensuring that the products we make respect the environment, sustainability is fundamental to everything we do.

CBS operates an Environmental Management Standard designed around the requirements of ISO 14001, which allows us to establish a framework and set rigorous targets to understand our progress and measure our environmental performance.

Built to last
One of our first design prerogatives is to ensure that our products are built to last. It is more sustainable to build a product that endures for 12 years than one which needs to be recycled every four years.

We believe it is a fallacy to make weak or fragile products that are easy to dispose of; a more appropriate solution is to produce high quality items that give long service and which can be recycled without a significant degradation in the materials. This is why the vast majority of our products come with a lifetime guarantee, as well as being composed of an average 99 per cent recyclable content.

Cradle to Cradle
From the outset of our thinking we adopt a cradle to cradle approach to designing new products and consider the logistical implications of the products we create. At the crux of this approach to environmental sustainability is our philosophy to do more with less, for longer.

To ensure our products attain the highest sustainable credentials we mark, where physically possible, all of our component parts with material constituents so that they can be correctly and efficiently recycled. To help facilitate this process we ensure our products can be quickly and easily disassembled using hand tools into their recyclable component parts.

Accordingly, our latest monitor arm - Flo - has achieved Cradle to CradleSM Silver Certification and our full range of products positively contribute to a building achieving LEED certification. We also support clients in their bids to achieve the Living Building Challenge and our products meet the requirements of the RoHS Directive.

Ethics
A sound sustainability policy should also incorporate the treatment of people. At the root of our manufacturing model is the idea that through mutual respect and collaboration we can all learn and perform better. We conduct routine audits of our suppliers to ensure that their employees enjoy a safe working environment in which their activities on behalf of CBS will not be detrimental to their long term wellbeing.

We support the 10 principles of the UN Global compact covering Human Rights, Labour, Environment, Anti-Corruption and ensure all suppliers adhere to these principles and propagate the values to those businesses they associate with. Companies found in contravention of these principles will be immediately removed from our supply chain.

Furthermore, we work with our logistics providers to find more efficient methods of moving our products, and our suppliers to find more sustainable ways of making and transporting our products. All of our suppliers comply or exceed the local requirements for the control of effluents and vapours and we are jointly committed to finding more energy efficient processes which are less environmentally damaging. Part of this framework concerns itself with our water stewardship and making sure both ourselves and our suppliers behave in a responsible manner towards the aquatic ecosystems wherever we conduct our business. 

Our aim is not only to reduce our footprint, but also to reduce how many times we need to put our feet on the floor.