Steelcase 2010 Sustainability Report Highlights EcoCradle

Dennis Carlson, Logistics Manger at Steelcase is featured in Steelcase’s 2010 Sustainability Report.

A big breakthrough this year was beginning use of a new material, EcoCradle packaging.

As an early large-scale adopter that helped develop EcoCradle for commercialization, Steelcase is the first in the office furniture industry using this innovative packaging, initially to ship Currency RTA (ready-to-assemble) casegoods.

The EcoCradle story shows the ripple effect that sustainability efforts can have. Dennis first heard about it in an email. His interest was piqued and he tok the initiative to make an exploratory phone call to the company.

“From a materials science and applicability standpoint, I immediately saw the fit for us at Steelcase. And I liked Ecovative’s business model, which is to tap into local farmers’ byproducts and create local growing centers.”

In less than a year, the project went from a phone call to a new packaging solution for Steelcase.

The challenge was working through the blends of materials and scaling up the start-up so Ecovative could feed into Steelcase’s industrial processes as a supplier.

“We took some chances, they took some chances, and it worked out great. From here, we aren’t hoarding the opportunity. We’re looking forward to seeing how it appeals to a broader manufacturing audience in our industry and beyond. It’s certainly generated a lot of interest already.”