From Forest to Furniture: Intrust dissemination event in Brussels
On 29 November 2023, Belgian circular economy experts Ecores organized a dissemination event at Yuman Village, the temple of the circular economy in Brussels.
The event titled “From forest to furniture” gathered various Belgian and international stakeholders from the wood-furniture value chain to discuss results from the Intrust project while providing space to reflect with industry representatives, certification specialists and furniture companies on the future of sustainability in the sector.
Philip de Jaeger from Fedustria, the Belgian federation of the Textiles, Wood and Furniture Industries opened the floor with a focus on the key challenges and opportunities of the sector regarding sustainability and circularity. Existing and upcoming regulations such as the Ecodesign for sustainable products regulation (ESPR), Extended Producer Responsibility for furniture and the most recent European Union Deforestation Regulation were presented and discussed with the audience.
Erwan Mouazan from Ecores introduced the Intrust elearning platform, one of the outcomes of the Erasmus+ founded project Intrust, which offers knowledge on green certifications and new digital approaches to achieve a twin transition in the furniture value chain.
Maja Drča, EU Representative from PEFC international, offered her perspective on the role of PEFC certification as a tool to enhance sustainability in the value chain. She introduced the recent Forest at home campaign as well as a new tool allowing companies to calculate the carbon storage of their certified wood furniture.
Last, two organizations representatives shared their journey on the road to sustainability: Nicolas Spineux from Sonian wood coop, presented an innovative ecosystem of Belgian forest and furniture companies focusing on shortening value chains. Zoe kleijnen and Marie Claeys from Belgian furniture company Mobitec introduced the recent actions the company has developed to become more circular, reflected in their upcoming sustainability report.
Interested in getting more insight? Download the slides of the participants:
- Fedustria- Sustainabilty in the furniture industry – recent developments in Belgium
- PEFC – Forest are home.
- Intrust project results.