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TOWARDS SUSTAINIBLY PRODUCED NATURAL STONE
The market for sustainable natural stone is growing
West European public buyers are increasingly asking for sustainably produced natural stone. Also amongst consumers there is a growing demand for sustainable products. The market is changing.
Importers and buyers are seeing therefore great opportunities. The market is changing faster than many think A growing number of front running companies are making sustainability part of their business.
A label for sustainable natural stone
Businesses and consumers should have the opportunity to purchase sustainably produced stone. Therefore the working group is close cooperation with other European initatives to work towards a European label for natural stone.
Importers, masons, branche organizations, producers, labour unions and civil society organizations are closely involved in the development of the label.
Get to know more about:.
- The criteria and guidelines on natural stone
- The implementation of the code of conduct in Europe, India and China
- All partners that are involved in the Working Group on Sustainable Natural Stone (WGDN).
The WGDN Code of Conduct
The Working Group on Sustainable Natural Stone (in Dutch: Werkgroup Duurzame Natuursteen – WGDN) brings together companies, business associations in the sector, trade unions and other civil society organisations wanting to solve these problems. The WGDN has developed a code of conduct that can help companies tackle the problems. The code contains standards for labour conditions, human rights and the environment. The WGDN also supports companies that want to implement this code of conduct.
→ Code of conduct
A label for sustainable natural stone
In 2010, the WGDN will launch a company label to verify that companies work with the code correctly. The label is still being developed. A key criterion is that the standards must be implemented at production locations in a step-by-step process. The intention is that this will become a mainstream label obtainable by all companies committed to working on sustainability. The label will be devised so that buyers for public authorities can easily use it in sustainable public procurement. Finally, the WGDN aims to establish an international label through close co-operation with stakeholders abroad.