Sustainability
At The Collective Agency, sustainability is at the core of every business decision we make. We are led by our environmental impact and protecting our planet, committed to constantly improving in this critical decade of action. Our dedicated Sustainability Manager constantly assesses what we do and the impact we make with ongoing business decisions and eco-initiatives.
Climate and Community
The Collective drives incremental change through its three key pillars — Community, Innovation, and Optimisation — spotlighting tangible actions toward a better future.
Materials
We chose materials and suppliers that share our vision of sustainability. We use Woven Images EchoPanel® for its 80% recycled content, outstanding environmental consciousness, and commitment, like us, to reduce waste. Our specialist cutting machine uses advanced software to ensure the least amount of waste from every sheet.
Innovation
We actively research methods to help eliminate glue from our panel installations. This aims to enhance recyclability at End of Life (EOL). Additionally, the ability to reuse fixings reduces the carbon footprint of our products and installations, contributing to an estimated annual reduction of approximately 28.6 TonnesCO2.
Suppliers
We believe in supporting UK businesses, especially new businesses. We choose local, UK-based suppliers to help reduce our collective impact from transportation of goods. Through our ISO14001 we guide and interact with our supply chain so we can collectively reduce our consumption.
Circularity
We are finding ways to reshape the future for our collective benefit and redefining what it means to be creative as the industry moves into a new, responsibly-led environment. The goal is to marry design with circularity through thoughtful initiatives, ensuring a sustainable mindset is active during all processes.
Take back scheme
With our Take Back scheme and the collective effort of the design community, we are paving the way for a more sustainable future in design practices. We aim to take back all acoustic PET panels from the demo phase of projects and recycle them into new products over the coming years.
Initiatives
Public Transport
We encourage a company-wide use of public transport or cycling wherever possible. Between 2022 & 2023 we reduced staff travel emissions by 52%.
Upgraded Laptops
We believe in repairing, repurposing, and upgrading our laptops for reuse as long as possible instead of investing in new products.
Wellbeing
We support our workforce through a subscription to the Calm App offering fantastic meditation and stress coping techniques.
Female Workforce
We have a strong foundation set up by Lucy, our star power. Our family has grown to 22 members, with a 63.6% ratio of females to males.
Staff Training & Apprenticeship
We support our employees to pursue relevant knowledge through courses and programs and have employed two apprentices full-time.
No-Glue installations
Throughout 2024 we are researching and developing ways to remove adhesive from our products and installations.
Achievements & Future Goals
Reduced factory waste by 49.2% in 2024
Reduced total emissions by 36% over 2022
Constant reduction of 12% year-on-year
Our key target is reaching net zero by 2030 following the UN ‘race-to-zero’
Our Sustainability Report
In 2023 we published our first client sustainability report. Every year we will produce a new report looking at our achievements over the last twelve months and our goals for the next. You can find our reports below:
Woven Image
The Collective Agency is the exclusive UK distributor of Woven Image.
We only use award-winning EchoPanel® manufactured by Woven Image for our base material.
Woven Image pioneered the production of high-performance acoustically absorbent porous panels predominately made from post-consumer recycled PET making a direct contribution towards achieving a circular economy. Woven Image is committed to inventing environmentally-sensitive products and evolving those already in its catalogue.
Our Credentials
Our commitment to transparency is evident in the availability of all our sustainability data upon request, following ISO guidance. Notably, we choose not to pursue third-party validation, such as Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), as these processes can be time-consuming. Instead, we believe in transparency and use Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) in adherence with our ISO 14001 certification. This approach allows us to quickly calculate sustainability metrics for each design and project.