Silentnight has continued its journey towards net zero with a range of environmental milestones over the past 12 months.
In 2023, Silentnight made changes across its business, including continuing to minimise waste and transforming the composition of products to support a significant reduction in its environmental impact.
Silentnight signed up to the Science-based Targets initiative (SBTi) in 2022 and, for a second year, it carried out a full scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon calculation, measuring its progress against SBTi Targets. The business achieved a -36% reduction across Scope 1 and 2 emissions (2418 tCO2e versus a baseline of 3230 in 2022) and -8% reduction on its Scope 3 emissions target (68,771 tCO2e versus a baseline of 72,355 in 2022).
These figures put the business within good range of reaching its targets of reducing its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by -54% and Scope 3 by -28% over the next seven years to 2030, and on a path to net zero by 2040.
To embrace greater transparency in the business’ net zero journey, Silentnight plans to introduce digital product passports that allow for the collection and sharing of a product’s data, to aid post-consumer recycling and keep materials in circulation at the highest value for longer.
Over the past 12 months, Silentnight has also reduced fuel consumption and saved water. The business used 36,000 fewer litres of fuel and saved 22 tonnes of C02e by transitioning over 70% of the fleet to electric or hybrid vehicles, and reduced water usage by -40% through newly refurbished office bathroom facilities.
Meanwhile, Silentnight’s partnership with Premier Inn saw the development of a new modular mattress design. An LCA (lifecycle analysis) suggests that adopting a two-piece design, rather than the standard one-piece (which allows the topper to be replaced separately from the spring support) will potentially save 23% of carbon emissions over the product’s lifetime.
Last year, Silentnight underwent its second ESG review, carried out by sustainability consultancy Sustainable Advantage. The study found that, across 75 ESG topics, Silentnight received a score of 80%, achieving ‘ESG excellence’, a status it says no other sleep brand has achieved.
Angela Moran, ESG director of Silentnight Group (pictured), says: “I am proud of the progress we’ve made this year to reduce environmental impact throughout all aspects of our business.
“It’s been a year since we set our net zero target of 2040 and our goal to achieve B Corp status by 2025. With the progress we’ve seen this year, I am confident that, in the next few years, we will continue to see a significant reduction in carbon emissions and reach our targets.
“Consumers, as well as our partners and employees, expect us to act sustainably and to have commitments in place to reduce our environmental impact. This is fundamental to maintaining their trust, but acting responsibly is also simply the right thing to do to protect the planet and our future.”
