B Corp. eco brand Takt is a pioneer in the field of radical transparency in the furniture market. Takt broke new ground on the Danish furniture market by providing a complete carbon report for each product produced over its entire lifetime. Its Cross Chair, designed by PearsonLloyd, won German Design Award, Gold 2021.
Founded in 2019 in Copenhagen, the Danish furniture brand Takt shows the lifelong carbon footprint of its entire product range. In the two years since its launch, it has built an international reputation for making modern design accessible and affordable to the public. It was certified as a B Corp design brand last year, one of the few European design brands to officially be certified.
The modern, scandalous aesthetics of the brand, the list of leading international designers and the intuitive self-assembly process have played a major part in the success, but it is the extraordinary commitment to transparency and sustainability that has set a new benchmark in the market.
From the time of procurement to the end of the product’s life cycle, carbon emissions are quantified according to the European Commission’s Ecological Footprint Directives (PEF), verified by the Danish climate calculator Malbar. Takt has comprehensive emissions data, which means that the carbon produced during the life of the product is offset by the raw material until the end of its life.
The report for each product includes CO2e efficiency figures for all stages of product manufacture, distribution, use, disposal and manufacture, as well as clock tracks, and publishes emissions figures for each of its products as they leave the factory door. These figures, along with detailed price breakdowns, are published on the product page so customers know that pre-compensating their new Cross Chair, for example, will cost the planet the same amount of CO2 as an 83-hour box-set frenzy on Netflix.
This not only provides customers with a clear overview of the environmental impact of their consumer choices on tactile products and furniture in general but also helps the company to fully visualize the climate impact of its own design and production process and identify priorities that need to be improved in the future.
This approach is in line with the Oxford Offset Principles published by the University of Oxford in 2020, and Takt is able to guarantee a net carbon offset for all aspects of its business, which is rare and unique in the global furniture sector. Since its inception, Takt has ensured that each product is certified by the EU with an eColabel, which certifies that all stages of the production cycle meet the highest possible environmental standards and is considered the most reliable certification system of its kind.
In recognition of its commitment to CO2 transparency and compensation, eColabels affirms that each phase of the life cycle of all cycle products minimizes waste of CO2 gas by taking into account material procurement, production, distribution and disposal. It also confirms that all our raw materials are Sustainable Wood (FSC-certified), sourced from sustainable forest trees that are not harvested with below-average organic regeneration and that all product components are designed to repair, replace and recycle individual parts.
Takt uses the Finnish carbon market Puro to invest in CO2 reduction certificates to support verifiable and validated CO2 reduction projects. For Takt, this kind of external recognition has been an integral part of the business from the outset. The quality seal and third-party certification ensure that the information is thoroughly checked and that the products meet the highest international sustainability standards. Takt has established a mandate that all future products must meet this certification, and a certificate will soon be introduced in the UK.
In December 2020, Takt became one of the few European design brands to be officially certified as a B Corporation in recognition of its efforts in the areas of sustainability, social responsibility, advanced business practices and governance. To achieve B Corp status, companies must undergo an in-depth B impact assessment that monitors and measures a company’s positive impact in five categories: governance, workers, community, customers, and the environment. Companies must reach at least 80% of the total number to be eligible for certification.
Takt founder Henrik Taudorf Lorensen and his team have realized that the road to sustainable design is not yet over. He understands that sustainability is not a question of ticking boxes for perfection, which can never be achieved, but of working towards something better.
As a guide for Takt and the designers it works with, the company has developed and published 10 clear ecodesign principles that all products must adhere to. Inspired by the aesthetics, functionality and sustainability of tact furniture, these principles serve as a template for the best sustainable and attractive designs, a creative springboard for designers and a means to hold them accountable, as well as a springboard to a circular economy. Equipped with these principles, Takt believes it can continue to lead the way in the development of our needs and lifestyles in exemplary, environmentally conscious furniture design.
