Buoyant Upholstery was among the winners of this year's FSC Furniture Awards, created by the Forest Stewardship Council to reward FSC-certified companies in the indoor and outdoor furniture sectors.
Twelve awards for indoor and outdoor furniture – including five special prizes for CSR, Communication, Green, Labelling and Small business, and an honourable mention – were assigned to FSC-certified companies active in the furniture sector in Italy, the UK, Germany, Poland and Croatia today.
The awards ceremony took place online, and the winners were announced by a jury composed of representatives of FSC national offices from the 11 competing countries (Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Poland, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, and the UK).
The ceremony was preceded by a roundtable on the use of wood from certified sources, which was attended by representatives of FSC International, international NGOs, forest owners, retailers and journalists, and moderated by celebrity designer Oliver Heath.
The first two editions of the awards in 2019 and 2020, which covered only Italy, awarded 20 companies operating in the wood-furniture sector. The first European edition follows the positive trend of an increasing number of furniture businesses becoming FSC certified – as of November 2021, a quarter of over 20,000 companies in FSC-certified European supply chains belong to the indoor or outdoor furniture sectors.
“In the climate change era we must provide viable solutions and positive examples of how forest conservation, communities and markets can co-exist. The FSC Furniture Awards promotes best practices, rewarding the achievements of companies that have decided to share their path towards sustainability with FSC,” says Alexia Schrott, FSC Italy’s marketing manager, and co-ordinator of the project.
2021's FSC sustainable furniture champions were: Home living – Composad (Italy); Home office – Melaco (Poland); Office furniture – Hammerbacher (Germany); Public space furniture –Schäfer Trennwandsysteme (Germany); Outdoor furniture for home – Roda (Italy); Outdoor furniture for public spaces – Community Products (UK), based in East Sussex, for its environmentally-friendly outdoor furniture and play equipment for toddlers (this company was also awarded the special Green award for its sustainability policy); Special award for CSR policies – Buoyant Upholstery (UK); Special award for communication – Stosa (Italy); Special award for the best FSC labelling – Calligaris (Italy); Award for small businesses – Cantarutti (Italy); and a special mention went to Era Grupa (Croatia).
