Sustainability generates long-term value
Sustainable behaviour helps Howdens to grow in a way that preserves our culture, supports our business model, increases business resilience, mitigates our risks, and addresses the material needs of our stakeholders.
Why sustainability matters to us
Sustainability is part
of our culture
The Howdens culture is to be ‘worthwhile for all concerned’. Our business needs to be worthwhile for our staff, our customers, our suppliers, the environment, and the communities we work in.
Sustainability supports
our business model
Sustainable behaviour also gives us a competitive advantage and builds business resilience.
Lowest cost production in our own UK factories leads naturally to minimising waste, energy, and raw materials.
Being trusted partners to our suppliers and customers means that our relationships need to be worthwhile for all parties concerned over the long-term.
We have over 900 depots in the UK and Europe. Each one of them relies on strong local relationships to trade profitably, so we need to be a good neighbour in each of those communities.
Sustainability mitigates
our risks
Sustainable behaviour helps us to address some of our principal risks. For example, we invest in keeping our people safe, developing their skills, and offering them a great place to work. We do this because it’s the right thing to do, and it also mitigates our ‘Health and Safety’ and ‘Loss of key personnel’ risks.
Developing and maintaining sustainable supplier relationships mitigates our ‘Interruption to continuity of supply’ risk. Energy efficient, safe, and durable product, where sustainability considerations are built in as a pillar of the design process, mitigates our ‘Product design relevance’ risk.
Net Zero Plan
Our Net Zero Plan received approval from the SBTi in early 2024. This commits us to reducing our Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 42% and our Scope 3 supply chain emissions by 25% by 2030 and targeting a 90% reduction by 2050 against a baseline year of 2021
Zero to Landfill
In 2023 our manufacturing and logistics operations maintained zero waste to landfill, and for the first time our network of over 800 UK depots has achieved zero waste to landfill
100%
Of the chipboard and MDF used in our manufacturing processes is from FSC® or PEFC certified sources.
Our ESG vision
UK's leading responsible
kitchen business
A sustainable product offering,
responsibly manufactured or sourced,
that meets the needs of the builder and
the end-consumer
A unique and
sustainable culture
Maintaining and building on our culture
of being worthwhile for all concerned.
Continuing to grow a sustainable
business that appeals to current and
future stakeholders.
Leader in risk and
resilience governance
An agile and resilient business,
proactively managing ESG risks, with
transparent high-quality stakeholder
reporting.
Our ESG strategy | |||||
Strategic | Net Zero | Climate Resilience | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strategic Pillars | Renewable energy / sustainable operations | Supply chain emissions | Decarbonise the fleet | Sustainable product offer and innovation | Supply chain risk mapping and resilience |
| Foundations | |||||
| EDI:Strategic priorities and wellbeing | |||||
| Bahavioural health and safety: Maintain and next steps | |||||
| Effective waste management: Zero to landfill | |||||
| Emmissions reduction: Carbon neutral | |||||
| Governance | Effective reporting and disclosure | ||||
Historic Sustainability Reports
HOWDENS Making space more valuable
Business Model and Strategy
Depots
Sustainability
Community
Products
People and Careers
Financial Results
