We place the highest standards in our product range

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We place the highest standards in our product range

People buy from us because they want to make their own homes more beautiful, better, safer, and more resource-efficient. They either have the work done by professionals or tackle their projects on their own. We are passionate about DIY and gardening, and we support our customers as best we can with our expertise and experience. And with the right products and services.

“When selecting our range of products, we always take sustainability aspects into account.”

Our product range is our biggest lever

The design of our product range is a top priority for us as a retail company: if the goods we offer are attractive to our customers, HORNBACH can be economically successful and provide jobs and livelihoods for tens of thousands of people.

The product ranges HORNBACH offers its customers to buy are becoming increasingly socially relevant. This is also due to the fact that aspects such as the origin of products, their components, and the production conditions under which articles are manufactured are becoming increasingly important for our customers.

We are therefore constantly evolving our product range with sustainability in mind. The product range offered by the HORNBACH Group is intended to enable customers to take ecological, health-related, and social aspects into account when making their purchases. For HORNBACH, these include, for example:

  • Offering low-emission products in order to minimise pollution in the living environment
  • Advice and information on the energy and water-saving functions of our products
  • Avoiding controversial or environmentally critical products such as herbicides containing glyphosate or plants that have been cultivated with neonicotinoids (bee protection)
  • Ensuring all items made from tropical woods are labelled with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC®) seal as proof of environmentally and socially responsible forestry
  • Ensuring that timber and wood products originating in the European Union come from sustainably and socially responsible managed forests
  • HORNBACH prefers to purchase timber and timber products from the European Union which have valid FSC® certification. In the case of the Romania growing region, a valid FSC® seal is a prerequisite for purchasing
  • Ensuring that only natural stones from responsible sources are offered for sale
  • All direct import suppliers and their factory sites are audited at regular intervals with regard to environmental and social standards. Our suppliers’ upstream suppliers are required by our suppliers to comply with the standards

 

Further information on the role of sustainability in our product range can be found here in German.

We focus on healthy living

Do-it-yourselfers and builders are paying more attention to the composition of the materials used. Added to this is the growing importance of no longer viewing health merely as the opposite of illness: feeling good, relaxing, and a good indoor climate are now foregrounded. When it comes to the construction and renovation of residential buildings, energy efficiency has been a high priority since the Energy Saving Ordinance. The problem is that insulation and appropriately designed windows make the rooms almost airtight. This keeps the indoor climate constant, but there is barely any way for pollutants in the air to be removed.

The healty living environment project aims to avoid pollutants in the construction and design of indoor spaces. These products can be recognised by test seals such as the ‘Blue Angel’ or the Eco-Institut seal.

We help you save energy

HORNBACH is a competent partner and has the necessary product range to help customers implement their energy-saving projects. New windows and doors, façade insulation, and roof and cellar ceiling insulation offer major savings opportunities. Our product range also includes a wide range of energy-saving products: from efficient lighting systems to standby killers, water-saving products, and full thermal insulation.

The discovery of healthy living (in German)
LINK
Construction site visit: Energy-efficient construction (in German)
LINK
Conserving resources (in German)
LINK
Ecological building and renovation (in German)
LINK

We support nature-orientated gardening

 

HORNBACH removed pesticides containing the active ingredient glyphosate from its product range in 2016. Plant protection products containing insecticides classified as hazardous to bees (B1) or belonging to the neonicotinoid group were also delisted. In 2018, the Floraself quality seal was also introduced in all countries in which HORNBACH operates. The seal certifies that our plants originate from sustainable production processes. In order to be able to offer plants in organic quality, HORNBACH in Germany already underwent independent European organic certification in 2018. It also includes the nurseries and forwarders that supply the company. By certifying the entire supply chain, HORNBACH guarantees that organic is also organic. With these steps, HORNBACH is supporting its customers in their natural gardening and helping to reduce risks for people and the environment.

We source wood from responsible forestry

We are committed to drawing customers’ attention to timber bearing the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) seal of approval. As early as 1996, our company voluntarily made undertakings to the WWF and Greenpeace not to import any uncertified tropical timber. Moreover, HORNBACH Baumarkt AG requires its suppliers to ensure that all processed timber products grown outside the European Union or in Romania have valid FSC® certification. In this respect, HORNBACH guarantees that all of the timber products involved come from certified stocks.

Many consumers see DIY stores as having a special obligation to offer timber products exclusively from responsible forestry. In order to do justice to customers’ wishes and at the same time to our responsible self-image, HORNBACH was the first international DIY chain to be awarded the FSC® chain of custody certificate GFA-COC-002007/FSC® C010062 in 2007. It guarantees a controlled supply chain from the place of origin of the wood to the end product.
Annual auditing by an independent testing institute ensures entitlement to bear the certificate. At all HORNBACH DIY stores, craftsmen and do-it-yourselfers can now choose from a range of several thousand wood products bearing the FSC® trademark.

Debate about glyphosate (in German)
LINK
The calling card of the house (in German)
LINK
The joy of gardening (in German)
LINK
FSC® - CoC-Certificate
PDF (309.35 KB)
Back to the raw material wood (in German)
LINK
Hey forest! How are you actually doing? (in German)
LINK

Further Information

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Guidelines

Find out more about our commitment in the latest issue of our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Guidelines

The Non-Financial Report

The Non-Financial Report sets out the objectives, strategies, measures, and key figures relating to the main sustainability topics at the HORNBACH Group:

ESG-Statbook

In addition, key sustainability key figures are presented in aggregate form in our ESG Statbook:

Your contact for questions

Anna Krall
Anna Krall
Head of Corporate Social Responsibility