King Koil has implemented sustainability initiatives designed to make the company more sensitive to its impact on the environment and its resources.
“Our sustainability goals and overall ESG initiatives are of great importance to our board of directors, especially as we continue to examine our impact, and that of our industry, on the environment,” said David Binke, King Koil’s CEO. “King Koil is known for innovation and forward thinking, and under the guidance of our Senior Vice President of Operations Don Pflug, limiting our environmental footprint is becoming more and more part of our corporate culture.”
According to Pflug, the company’s ESG plan encompasses 15 key performance indicators, with five focusing on sustainability and limiting the company’s environmental footprint. The five include:
- Reducing the use of plastic and cardboard (30% to date)
- Using reusable resin pallets instead of wood pallets, which are typically damaged and destroyed in their first use (30 wood pallet reduction per month)
- Recycling foam materials from the production process (10% current reduction)
- Implementing more efficient electrical use in its facilities
- Establishing a supplier sustainability checklist that encourages partners to join in King Koil’s commitment to sustainability.
Since being implemented in 2022, these sustainability KPIs have shown positive results, according to Pflug. Now King Koil intends to expand its KPIs and look for new and innovative approaches to product development, production and operations to further improve the company’s environmental stewardship, he said.
“The road to sustainability is more about the journey and less about the destination,” Pflug said. “While we are just starting to scratch the surface on sustainability, we see it becoming more and more part of our daily lives as a company and in the manufacture of our products.
“Being good stewards of the planet over the long-haul starts with a careful look at the full lifecycle of a product — from product development through manufacturing and on to final disposal. We are taking our impact on the environment seriously and have made these efforts part of our employee education. And the concepts are becoming more and more ingrained in King Koil’s culture.”
King Koil plans to set the pace in sustainability practices and work closely with retail partners to design efforts that work for everyone across the production and sales continuum. The company first embraced sustainability when it began replacing synthetic components with sustainable raw materials, such as 100% natural latex, cotton and wool, as well as recycled fabrics and bio-based foams.
The company’s partnerships in Europe have inspired King Koil’s sustainability initiatives, as the European bedding industry is significantly ahead of the United States in its sustainable approaches, according to a news release.
