We want to be an important part of our customers’ sustainable transition.
From the thriftiness of Småland to focused sustainability work!
Our goal at Hestra has always been to help our customers create stores that sell. At the same time, we’ve always been thrifty and careful to use materials, energy and machines in the best possible way. When my great-grandfather, Natanael, started the business in 1900, he didn’t do things carelessly, he saved leftover materials and made sure to pack his cart fully when he had to go to the railway to send his goods off for transport. The basis of our sustainability work is those same principles that Natanael had 124 years ago. They’re packaged a little differently, we’ve been certified according to ISO14001 for over 20 years and our work is structured according to those routines. Just now, we’re working hard to prepare to meet the EU’s requirements for sustainability reporting. But it’s still about using scarce resources in a sustainable and frugal way, and it goes really well when you combine it with creating selling stores!
We’re humble about our mission and we realise that there’s always more to do with sustainability work. The purpose of this brochure is not to stack up all the goals and measurement points we’re working on in detail, but to provide an overall picture of our sustainability work.
If you want to know more, please get in touch.
Johan Petersson, CEO Hestra Inredningar AB
We’ve always been thrifty and careful about using materials, energy and machines in the best possible way!
Hestra stands strong – our sustainable path
For us, sustainability is a given.
Over the years, we have always valued long-term vision and high quality - both in terms of our products, our manufacturing, and also our employees. Concepts that are developed for the customer’s needs, products that last a long time, and staff that thrive year after year are proof that our strategy has paid off. As early as 2004, we were environmentally certified according to ISO14001 (we had received a quality certificate according to ISO a few years previously). We were therefore some of the very first in the industry to take active responsibility for working on sustainability. Over the years, we’ve developed our work and taken new steps on working more sustainably. Over the years, we’ve constantly developed our various interior systems and at the same time ensured that they are backwards-compatible with previous versions, which makes it possible to just replace specific parts and not have to buy a completely new interior when it’s time for an upgrade.
Our products last for a long time, we keep our promises to both staff and customers. With a long-term perspective that has been in place since we were established in 1900, we’re confident in saying that Hestra lasts.
The goal for 2030 is to reduce electricity consumption by 40%. When we reach that goal, we will have reduced our electricity consumption corresponding to that of 39 detached family homes with an average consumption of 20,000 KWh.
We have goals and action plans in place for working with our customers to reduce returns that involve unnecessary transportation. We’re working to reduce waste material and scrap. Reducing the number of defects in quality is also a clear objective within the framework of our sustainability efforts. A faulty product disturbs the customer and consumes enormous resources when it needs to be repaired or produced again. Other goals concern energy efficiency improvements and own green energy production. Within that area we run our own wind power company, along with other companies in our region, with the goal of producing the equivalent of 100% of our electricity consumption, in combination with our solar panels.
In 2023, we produced the equivalent of 87% of our electricity consumption needs ourselves. From our own wind power and own solar cells. The goal for 2030 is to produce 100% of our own electricity ecologically.
Our goal is to reduce the energy consumption of heating Hestra’s main building by 40% per m². By 2023, we reached a reduction of 37% compared with the peak year of 2010.
UN Global Goals
Our selected goals:
The UN’s global goals are a common agenda for sustainable development for all the countries of the world. A classic example of how no one can do everything but everyone can do something. We’ve selected four targets where Hestra has the opportunity to influence and make development more sustainable.
Goal 3
Good health and well-being
”We’re constantly working towards a positive working environment and investing in the health and well-being of our staff.
We’re working actively to reduce our use of chemicals. We’ve sorted through things and narrowed down the amount of different chemicals considerably. Now we’re working on finding replacements for the chemicals we use today.”
Goal 7
Sustainable energy for all
”Together with other companies nearby, we’ve started our own wind power company and along with our own solar energy production, we’re aiming for 100% of the electricity we use to be compensated by our own green electricity production.”
Goal 9
Sustainable industry, innovation and infrastructure
”We switched to water-based paints/surface treatments early, and are actively working to minimise waste of both wood and metal. Our shopfitting system is backward-compatible all the way to 1978, allowing customers to add more modules without needing to replace any existing parts. We’re focused on reducing or ideally eliminating replacement deliveries for both production and transport.”
Goal 12
Sustainable consumption and production
”We have a close dialogue with our customers, which means that we’re constantly trying to find the best and most efficient solutions, which also provide the most sustainable option, with a focus on promoting awareness and sustainable behaviours.”
A genuine holistic commitment
Our sustainability work is based on three important focus areas; control, optimisation and development. Through these, we want to create a greater awareness of our role and our most influential factors. This applies in part to our customers where we want them to think of us as an obvious choice as a sustainable supplier, and thus we become part of our customers’ green transition. You shouldn’t have to compromise to achieve a sustainable process, it should be an interaction between customers and suppliers where we can still maintain the same high quality and high commitment when it comes to creating concepts for store interiors.
Another important aspect for us is our internal anchoring. Sustainability is not something for just the management to fully control and understand. Everyone who works at Hestra has to understand their role in our sustainability work and understand that every choice you make during your working day can have an impact. By defining our work in our three focus areas, it becomes easier to set goals, inform both customers and staff, and constantly work on follow-ups and improvement.
In 2023, we cut our electricity consumption by 34% compared to (the peak year) 2017. Our goal is to reduce our own electricity consumption by 40% compared to 2017.
In 2023, we completely stopped using gas heating for our metal manufacturing at Hillerstorp, thanks to a decisive investment in geothermal heating systems. This resulted in a reduction in CO2 emissions of 72,000 kg per year.
From optimised design to optimised logistics solutions, but not least by minimising waste and creating a consistent mindset about how to make the best use of our resources in the best way.
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At Hestra, we strive for full control via our in-house manufacturing, local suppliers, and close cooperation with our customers. Of course, we work systematically in line with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.
Focus areas
D EVEL O P M
A sustainable future requires that we are always developing. Both when it comes to our own processes but also by keeping our ‘feelers’ out to get a greater understanding of how we can influence and how we can contribute.
01
Control
Skill and precision combined under one roof.
Our in-house manufacturing is the most effective way for us to maintain control. In addition to our own manufacturing facilities at Hestra and Hillerstorp, we make great efforts to be able to use as many local suppliers as possible. This means that today 92% of our manufacturing takes place in Sweden, with an overwhelming majority in our home region of Småland. This is both ourselves and the small subcontractors that we’ve often worked with for decades. Local manufacturing reduces imports and additional transportation, but above all it gives us great control over manufacturing flows. A close collaboration between design and manufacturing teams also means that you get a greater understanding of how the manufacturing process works. It not only gives the customer a cost-effective product, it also creates a sustainable manufacturing process by being able to find smart ways to manufacture as early as the planning and concept development stages.
We powder coat both to get the right colour and for durability/ resistance. We do it without any solvents or environmentally hazardous chemicals. Any unused powder is recycled for
minimal waste, and process water is also cleaned and recycled. Reuse, energy saving, and minimal waste are some of the focus points as we strive to achieve sustainable lacquering. For full control over our surface treatment process, Hestra has a close collaboration by which we not only have our own warehouse where the treatments are done, we also have our own staff on site full time.
Management of any deviations in either the environment or the working environment is handled in the same way as any deviations in quality/complaints and is reported via our deviation system which is integrated with our business system. They are investigated, remedied, and followed up to facilitate future prevention.
50%
During the spring of 2024, measuring on a rolling 12-month basis, we’ve managed to cut defects in quality by half since we started.
92% of our manufacturing takes place in Sweden (2023). 92%
Case — 1. Mapping
Environmental reporting of materials to Systembolaget
During Systembolaget’s own environmental investigations, we were asked to map the furnishings they bought from us.
We helped with documents for reporting a selected year’s total weight of delivered furnishings, total weight per store, and by item.
• Statistics for material distribution.
• Mapping of material flows from country of origin, processing, and transport chains.
• Certifications, goods declarations and possibilities for other choices.
This provided the basis for continued work with replacements for improved environmental choices for a number of items.
Through close collaboration, we’re able to work together to create improvements and find new opportunities to reduce negative environmental impacts.
Optimisation 02
Optimising for efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Transport is one of the biggest influencing factors regarding the environment. At Hestra, we’re working actively to reduce unnecessary and surplus transports, both by helping the customer to specify their order to avoid incorrect/missed products that create extra transports, but also by optimising deliveries to make the best possible use of available space. If we can make it easier for our customers to always order the exact amount they need, we can reduce unnecessary deliveries and returns. For us, it’s also about trying to get deliveries to be as complete as possible to avoid partial deliveries that require other transports.
In addition to optimising transport, we strive to find the best solution for bulky products in dialogue with the customer. Often, the implementation of the project requires that larger products are delivered fully assembled, but at other times, in cooperation with the customer, we can find solutions for simple final assembly on site, saving a lot of shipping volume. For example, we were the first in the industry to use a patented click system for very fast and stable assembly of certain products.
170t
Another area where we’re working hard on optimisation is the reduction of waste and scrap. This is something we take with us when we’re designing and when we’re manufacturing. In construction, we try to work with measurements that minimise waste of both wood and metal, in manufacturing we try to use the waste that still occurs for other products that can be manufactured with materials left over from other manufacturing. We’re also working on recycling any surplus in the best possible way. Wood waste is used for district heating and metal is recycled for melting to be used as new metal.
By streamlining in-house servers and moving to cloud storage, we’ve saved around 170 tonnes of CO2 in Scope 1, 2, and 3 in 2023 and 2024. Source: Nordlo
Case — 2. Minimise waste
Offcuts became an interior fixture in MQ’s fitting rooms
As early as the concept development phase, when we developed the concept with MQ, the focus was on using materials as smartly as possible. One example was that we could use an offcuts that was left over from when we cut out an opening for a fitting room. The waste material became the frame for a fitting room mirror.
”We’re very satisfied with our collaboration with HESTRA, the focus is on creating a welcoming and inspiring store environment that highlights our range in the best way, where sustainability in implementation is central to both manufacturing and the lifespan of the store concept.” Ingvar Larsson, CEO MQ.
We’re very pleased with our collaboration with HESTRA and look forward to taking steps towards ever greater sustainability together. 75%
03
Development
Constant development makes us even more sustainable.
One of the most important aspects for us in our focus area development is our energy consumption. The production of the electricity we consume constitutes a large part of the company’s total environmental impact. We’re working actively to reduce our electricity consumption and striving to produce as much green electricity ourselves as we consume. In 2023, our own production corresponded to approximately 87% of our electricity consumption at Hestra. We produce green electricity through our own wind turbines and solar panels.
Our energy target for heating our main building at Hestra is concerned with reducing energy (for heating) by 40% per m2 In 2023, we achieved a reduction of 37% compared to 2010 (the peak year). One other example is that we heat our premises with waste heat from a neighbouring industry.
In 2023, we completely stopped using gas heating for our metal production at Hillerstorp thanks to a vital investment in geothermal heating systems. This resulted in a reduction in CO2 emissions of 72,000 kg per year. Furthermore, we’re working in a focused way on various types of energy efficiency improvements and energy recovery of excess heat from our machines.
For us, development is not just about what happens here at Hestra. Social responsibility both nearby and far away is also a part of working sustainably for the long term. We support the local clubs and associations, which give children and young people greater opportunities to practice sports, exercise, and take part in the cultural offering that we have available. We’ve also chosen, with the help of the Erikshjälpen charity, to support families at Buliisa/Albert Lake in Uganda. The project involves, among other things, support so that they can develop their agriculture or to create a stable livelihood in other ways. It strengthens entire families as well as areas, which also contributes toward increased opportunities for the children’s right to go to school and increased positivity toward the future.
In 2023, we reduced the CO2 emissions from our company cars by 85%, corresponding to approx. 83,000 kg of C02 annually.
Store interior for Erikshjälpen’s stores
Many years ago we began a collaboration with Erikshjälpen. A small aid organisation from Småland without a lot of bureaucracy and hassle.
What started with support by sponsoring 100 children annually has developed into a corresponding investment in supporting vulnerable families in a specific area of Uganda. Given that we work with store interior design and Erikshjälpen runs around 50 stores, we recently realised there were opportunities for further collaboration. Erikshjälpen’s stores sell second-hand goods with the goal of providing work for people who are outside of the labour market as well as to generate profits to use for their aid activities. Of course, the shops need furnishings,
and what would be a better fit for second-hand shops than donating furnishings that are left over from various projects, which would otherwise be thrown away. For this we’re also grateful to customers who have agreed to donate their leftover furnishings when we rebuild stores with new concepts.
15 pcs
We continuously support various organisations, and we are currently sponsoring 15 sports associations, children’s & youth activities, and aid organisations. Our biggest investments go to Erikshjälpen and Hestra SSK.
Everything started in the year 1900
The year is 1900 and Natanael Petersson is on his way to the vicarage at Hestra. His cart is fully loaded with furniture and the air is full of spring scents and the atmosphere is tense with expectation. The vicar had previously seen the furniture taking shape in Natanael’s workshop. But how would it look once it was in place? And how would the vicar’s wife react? Both of them end up being very pleased, and Natanael’s reputation as a skilled craftsman begins to spread. The customers start pouring in and Natanael registers his company under the name N.Peterssons Mekaniska Snickerifabrik, later changing the name to Hestra Inredningar AB.
The company establishes its first international sales office in Norway in 1984. In the following years, we also set up businesses in Finland and Denmark.
During the 1940’s, his sons, Ernst and Tage join the company and the business develops even further. N. Petersson’s Mechanical Carpentry Factory is now also offering interior decoration for schools, hotels and stores.
2004
As early as 1996 we were quality certified, and now the more systematic part of our sustainability work begins when we receive the environmental certification according to ISO 14001.
2010
124 years after the foundation of the company, we are still going, now with the fourth generation of Peterssons at the helm. The focus is the same as when Natanael made his first delivery, the customer has to be satisfied. Our latest major investment is a modern panel dividing saw with robotic material replenishment that will help us to be even better at reducing waste through optimised sawing.
Tired of high electricity prices and worried about environmental impacts, we start our own wind power company together with some other local companies. The first earthworks for wind power begin in 2010.
Commitment, joy and inspiration.
A good working environment is more than just ear protectors, standing desks, staff benefits, and our own gym, although we have all of those. With a corporate culture where people thrive and have the opportunity to make their voice heard, a sustainable business is created from within. With us, everyone has a collective agreement and we work actively to create a healthy working environment for our employees. At regular intervals, our workplaces are inspected by an expert in ergonomics from our partner at Företaghälsan.
Regular checks of the working environment are also carried out via safety inspections. This is done together with a working environment engineer. Every quarter, we check with the company’s safety committee that the requirements for a safe workplace are being met. We’re meticulous about documentation and the results of our working environment efforts are reported by the personnel manager to colleagues in the management team so that any deficiencies can be quickly remedied and followed up.
Happy
and healthy employees are important to us!
We ensure that working environment tools are available and our own gym has been developed in partnership with our employees.
A good working environment is and has always been a given for us. Through our routines, we can continue to develop our company culture and strive for everyone to reach their full potential. Because no one knows our business better than the people who work and operate in it every day, and that is how we want to continue developing sustainable and long-term solutions.
