Environmental responsibility
Protecting our planet is firmly rooted in the Otto Group’s traditions, as environmental protection was defined a corporate goal as early as 1986. Today, we are working with ambitious targets to further minimize our ecological footprint. In doing so, we consider the impact of our products on the climate, ecosystems and society over their entire life cycle: from the extraction of raw materials to production conditions, from material consumption and shipping to use and disposal by customers. We can achieve the greatest impact by using sustainable materials with regard to textile fibers, wooden furniture, cataloge paper and packaging. In addition, we are pursuing the long-term goal of reducing emissions along the entire value chain to net zero by 2045 without any offsetting.
Stories on environmental responsibility
Environmental responsibility in detail
Climate protection
Climate protection became part of our corporate strategy back in 1986. We have achieved a lot since then. For example, CO₂ emissions in our own business activities were more than halved between 2006 and 2020 – completely without offsetting. But we want even more: our long-term goal is to achieve net-zero emissions along the entire value chain by 2045 at the latest. We want to ensure that our goals and activities are in line with the 1.5-degree target of the Paris Climate Agreement. In 2022, we have therefore committed to developing an ambitious and holistic Science-Based Target (SBT) to address our entire value chain. The SBT is a science-based reduction target for greenhouse gas emissions that is in line with the 1.5 degree target of the Paris Climate Agreement. We submitted our SBT to the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi) for validation in spring 2023 and successfully completed the validation process at the end of February 2024.
Sustainable materials
Sustainable materials such as FSC®-certified wood or sustainable cotton are an important component in fully recyclable products. That is why we are working to switch more and more materials to sustainable alternatives in all our products. The Otto Group's long-term goal is to use sustainable materials in all products.
Animal and species protection
The Otto Group was a pioneer in the area of animal welfare: As early as 1988, we removed furs of endangered species or species that are not kept in a manner appropriate to the species, such as mink, marten and sable, from our product range. Since 1991, real fur has generally been banned from our range.
With regard to our animal welfare-related products, we adhere to the following principles, which are set out in our Animal Welfare Policy:
- We are committed to upholding animal welfare based on applicable international and national conventions and laws, as well as the Farm Animal Welfare Committee's (FAWC) "Five Freedoms."
- We do not allow products or product ingredients from endangered or wild-caught animals.
- We continuously develop our approaches in collaboration with key stakeholders and on the basis of new knowledge in the areas of animal welfare and animal protection. Our requirements are regularly reviewed to ensure their relevance and to live up to our aspirations.
We reject products that contain mohair or angora, as well as products from live plucking and foie gras production. In addition, the use of mulesing practices on sheep is not permitted and only alpaca and cashmere wool that has been certified with independent recycling or animal welfare standards or that meets others requirements may be used. We adhere to strict guidelines when selling leather and wool products, as well as goods containing down. As of 2024, only leather and hides are permitted as a by-product of food production from the following domesticated animal species: Cattle, Buffalo, Pig, Goat, Sheep and Yak. We also recommend the use of sustainable vegan alternatives to leather. In addition, we are constantly increasing the proportion of certified materials: From 2028, down, feathers, sheep's wool, alpaca and cashmere will only be allowed 100% certified.
In addition, the Otto Group has been a member of the international "Fur Free Retailer" program since 2014, whose signatories commit not to use real fur. This sends a clear public signal for animal welfare over and above our previous voluntary commitment to go fur-free.
Handling of chemicals
We are also aware of our responsibility in the textile manufacturing process. In a nutshell, this means that we are committed to ensuring that a minimum of chemicals is used in dyeing, washing and printing. To this end, we have launched the EMPact program to help our business partners in China, Bangladesh and Turkey, among other countries, to make their processes more environmentally friendly and safer for their employees.
Product safety
Products we put on the market meet high quality standards - often beyond the legal requirements. This applies to potentially hazardous residues as well as general equipment safety. Even stricter guidelines apply to children's clothing and toys.