At WBC we’re investing in a greener, brighter future, controlling our impact on the environment where we can and playing our part in reducing global warming.

Acting responsibly without compromising on quality is an ongoing goal for us, aiming to use sustainable materials where we can whilst complying with industry standards. In 2006 we purchased 61 acres of land in the Bordeaux region of France and set about implementing an ecologically sound and maintainable tree-planting scheme to help limit our carbon footprint.

With a staggering 29,000 trees planted over the last 2 years our team of forestry consultants tend the land, ensuring the right trees are planted in the right soil and our plantation can flourish so that in 20 - 40 years our saplings will have matured into towering Oaks and Pines.

In addition to this we are working to ensure that by the end of the year all our wooden products are produced using FSC approved wood, you will begin to notice a stamp on these products guaranteeing you of their credentials. Remember you can keep up to date on these developments by visiting our website www.thewbc.co.uk/environment.

Wood

WBC is committed to ensuring that all the timber used in the course of its business has been sourced with the least possible damage to the natural environment. Importantly, no tropical hardwoods are used in any of our products. Wooden products from European suppliers use timber from verifiable sources that meet the minimum standards of good forest management. Wooden products from China are made from raw materials sourced locally or from Russia. We have worked very closely with two factories in China for a number of years and have seen real improvements.

The majority of wood suppliers that we use conform to international standards and supply us with FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certificates to verify forest management and chain of custody. We are already 75% compliant but are working towards ensuring that all our timber will be certificated by the end of 2009.

The Forest Stewardship Council is an independent, not for profit, non governmental organisation providing standards, trademark assurance and accreditation services for responsible forestry. Its mission is to promote the environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable management of the world’s forests. For more information, visit www.fsc-uk.org

Card

Wherever possible, WBC uses recycled material or material with a high recycled content. However there are minimum quality standards that we expect of our products and where recycled material would compromisethis, we would use virgin board. Virgin board contains no recycled material.It is however, 100% recyclable.

Polystyrene

Our polystyrene/polythene products do not contain any CFCs and the production process has no more effect on the environment than a printed cardboard product. Polystyrene can be reused, recycled or incinerated very efficiently. Whilst these products do not biodegrade, modern landfill sites are not designed to ‘biodegrade’ as this process could release harmful gases or liquids into the environment. We are evaluating whether we can use more recycled content in the production of our polystyrene products and will introduce the maximum we can over the short term.

Wicker

All of our wicker products come from China and are made from steamed willow. Willow is a sustainable plant that is grown and cropped bi-annually. The cultivation of willow and the basic production of wicker products is organised by villages located within the willow growing areas. The production of willow related products is the villagers’ main source of income. The villages all work in co-operation with a larger central finishing factory which they supply with their part-finished wicker products. The factory is responsible for taking orders, organising production in the villages and then assembling/finishing the goods before packing into containers. Traditionally, our darker willow products were finished using a stain/varnish to achieve the colour. Whilst the stain/varnish is perfectly safe, we feel the product has a very natural feel and we have found a way of achieving the dark colour by boiling the willow for five hours and then sealing with a water based sealant. All dark wicker products are now made using this method, no artificial stains are used.

Jute

Jute products are derived from a sustainable plant which is farmed extensively in India and Bangladesh. Like wicker, jute products tend to be made by villagers within the area where cultivation takes place. Part-finished and finished orders are then sent to a distributor who will finish and pack the goods for export. 100% Jute bags are both reusable and biodegradable. However, jute bags with plastic windows are more problematic. Whilst they can obviously be reused, the recycling aspect is more complicated and we are currently looking at whether there is a more environmentally friendly alternative to the clear plastic window.