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Meet the C2C Certified® Changemakers: Royal Ahrend

In our Changemakers series, we walk you through a day in the life with C2C Certified® products that are helping shape a healthy, circular and fair economy.

Second in focus: @ahrend, a pioneer in circular work environments.

From modular desks and tables to thoughtfully designed task seating, Ahrend is shaping workspaces that prioritize circular design, material health, and longevity. Their Ahrend Balance Collection, featuring desks and tables, uses modular components that are easy to repair, replace, and recycle. Similarly, Ahrends Remode chair incorporates circular materials, including ocean plastic – and its lightweight design further reduces its CO2 emissions.

At the core of Ahrend’s design philosophy is a commitment to keeping office furniture in use for as long as possible.By combining circular and healthy materials with adaptable modular systems, Ahrend shows how workplaces can evolve without increasing their environmental impact. The result: spaces where comfort, design, and sustainability go hand in hand, and that work for generations to come.

Meet the C2C Certified® Changemakers: Royal Ahrend

In our Changemakers series, we walk you through a day in the life with C2C Certified® products that are helping shape a healthy, circular and fair economy.

Second in focus: @ahrend, a pioneer in circular work environments.

From modular desks and tables to thoughtfully designed task seating, Ahrend is shaping workspaces that prioritize circular design, material health, and longevity. Their Ahrend Balance Collection, featuring desks and tables, uses modular components that are easy to repair, replace, and recycle. Similarly, Ahrends Remode chair incorporates circular materials, including ocean plastic – and its lightweight design further reduces its CO2 emissions.

At the core of Ahrend’s design philosophy is a commitment to keeping office furniture in use for as long as possible.By combining circular and healthy materials with adaptable modular systems, Ahrend shows how workplaces can evolve without increasing their environmental impact. The result: spaces where comfort, design, and sustainability go hand in hand, and that work for generations to come.

Meet the C2C Certified® Changemakers: Royal Ahrend

In our Changemakers series, we walk you through a day in the life with C2C Certified® products that are helping shape a healthy, circular and fair economy.

Second in focus: @ahrend, a pioneer in circular work environments.

From modular desks and tables to thoughtfully designed task seating, Ahrend is shaping workspaces that prioritize circular design, material health, and longevity. Their Ahrend Balance Collection, featuring desks and tables, uses modular components that are easy to repair, replace, and recycle. Similarly, Ahrends Remode chair incorporates circular materials, including ocean plastic – and its lightweight design further reduces its CO2 emissions.

At the core of Ahrend’s design philosophy is a commitment to keeping office furniture in use for as long as possible.By combining circular and healthy materials with adaptable modular systems, Ahrend shows how workplaces can evolve without increasing their environmental impact. The result: spaces where comfort, design, and sustainability go hand in hand, and that work for generations to come.

The newly released Circle Economy Circularity Gap Report 2026 introduces a new lens on circularity: the “Value Gap.” The report estimates that €25.4 trillion in economic value is lost annually through linear material use, equivalent to almost 31% of global GDP.

Rather than focusing only on recycling rates, the report examines where value is lost across the economy through processing losses, energy inefficiencies, food losses and waste, end-of-life waste, and the premature deterioration of long-lived assets.

This reflects an important shift in how circularity is being discussed. Circularity is not only about recovering materials after use. It is also about retaining product value for longer through durability, repair, reuse, refurbishment, remanufacturing, and clear end-of-use pathways.

Cradle to Cradle Certified® Circularity supports this approach through requirements connected to:
▪ Circular sourcing
▪ Designing products for future use cycles
▪ Defined recovery pathways and circular systems
▪ Public Circularity Data Reports that support traceability, recovery, and future material use

As the report highlights, reducing value loss requires coordinated action across value chains and stronger alignment between design, infrastructure, finance, and policy.

Read the full report here: https://www.circularity-gap.world/2026

Learn more about C2C Certified® Circularity: https://c2ccertified.org/the-standard/circularity-certification

Cradle to Cradle Certified® has been selected as a qualifying program for Washington State's Safer Salons Partnership, a pilot initiative helping hair salons and barbershops transition to healthier products by offering financial reimbursement of up to $5,000.

After evaluating fifteen programs, Washington Ecology's technical team determined that Cradle to Cradle Certified® meets or exceeds all Level 2 criteria, the program's highest evaluation tier. For salon owners, workers, and clients, this means C2C Certified® products are endorsed for health and backed by financial incentives. For hair and skincare brands, it creates a new or larger market in Washington State salons.

Read more at our link in bio!

We are expanding support for companies on their journey to Cradle to Cradle Certified® with the launch of our global Advisory Network, connecting them with expert advisors who can help them prepare for certification.

We are pleased to welcome @anthesisgroup as the first member of this growing network. Together, we are strengthening the support available to companies working to design and develop healthy, circular products.

Through the Advisory Network, companies can access support with:

- Identifying suitable products for certification

- Conducting gap analyses

- Preparing data and documentation from manufacturers and supply chains

- Design and optimization of products, processes, management systems, and circular product systems

This initiative is an important step in expanding the resources available to support companies on their certification journey.

Learn more at the link in bio!

Meet the C2C Certified® Changemakers: @kawneereurope

In our Changemakers series, we take you through a day in the life with C2C Certified® products that are leading the way toward a healthy, circular and fair economy.

First in focus: Kawneer, a pioneer in facade design.

Through high‑performing architectural aluminum systems – from curtain walls and windows to doors and framing systems – Kawneer enables architects, contractors and glaziers to deliver performance that goes beyond the design and construction process. By combining next‑generation technologies with responsible material use, they help reduce reliance on artificial light, power, heating, and cooling.

At the heart of their work is a long‑term approach: building legacies that support communities, enhance well‑being, and remain relevant for future generations – guided by innovation, quality, resilience, and driving positive change.

Meet the C2C Certified® Changemakers: @kawneereurope

In our Changemakers series, we take you through a day in the life with C2C Certified® products that are leading the way toward a healthy, circular and fair economy.

First in focus: Kawneer, a pioneer in facade design.

Through high‑performing architectural aluminum systems – from curtain walls and windows to doors and framing systems – Kawneer enables architects, contractors and glaziers to deliver performance that goes beyond the design and construction process. By combining next‑generation technologies with responsible material use, they help reduce reliance on artificial light, power, heating, and cooling.

At the heart of their work is a long‑term approach: building legacies that support communities, enhance well‑being, and remain relevant for future generations – guided by innovation, quality, resilience, and driving positive change.

Meet the C2C Certified® Changemakers: @kawneereurope

In our Changemakers series, we take you through a day in the life with C2C Certified® products that are leading the way toward a healthy, circular and fair economy.

First in focus: Kawneer, a pioneer in facade design.

Through high‑performing architectural aluminum systems – from curtain walls and windows to doors and framing systems – Kawneer enables architects, contractors and glaziers to deliver performance that goes beyond the design and construction process. By combining next‑generation technologies with responsible material use, they help reduce reliance on artificial light, power, heating, and cooling.

At the heart of their work is a long‑term approach: building legacies that support communities, enhance well‑being, and remain relevant for future generations – guided by innovation, quality, resilience, and driving positive change.

May 28 is coming up quickly. Don't miss your final chance to be part of the conversation moderated by Elwyn Grainger-Jones, - meet the voices joining us for our C2C Certified® webinar

Today we will introduce to you the final speakers next to William McDonough and Kimberley Shenk (Novi):

Johana Rodriguez is a global design innovation and sustainability leader at JLL Design Lab, working at the intersection of circular design, data, and AI. With over a decade of experience across the U.S., U.K., and EMEA, her work focuses on translating sustainability frameworks into measurable outcomes, aligning real estate and workplace decisions with credible sustainability data and circularity goals.

Anouk Osinga, Program Manager Sustainability at GS1 Netherlands, bridges regulation and practice by developing data standards that make sustainability information exchangeable and credible across value chains. Her projects focus on certification data, digital product passport, product carbon footprints, and EUDR compliance, translating complex regulatory requirements into scalable, trusted solutions for companies.

Join us online on 28 May, 4:00–5:00 PM CET. 👉 https://ow.ly/6MY350YY2Bl

Get ahead, stay ahead with Cradle to Cradle Certified®

As sustainability expectations rise, designers need data they can trust.

Join us during Clerkenwell Design Week for an insightful lunchtime talk with Ren DeCherney, Director of Built Environment @c2ccertified

Ren will explore how Cradle to Cradle Certified® supports circular design, material health and carbon reduction in the built environment – and how designers can specify products that are healthy, circular and equitable without adding complexity to their workflow.

19 May | 12:30–14:00
Milliken Showroom, 5 Berry Street, Clerkenwell

Places are limited, register now! #linkinbio

#CDW26
#ClerkenwellDesignWeek #CradleToCradle
#CircularDesign
#Specification
#MaterialHealth
#DiscoverMilliken

Monica Becker, our Senior Director Strategy & Development, will be leading the session "Building Consumer Confidence: How Traceability and Global Standards Strengthen Trust" at GS1 Connect Conference alongside Kyle Bowman from Amazon Climate Pledge Friendly and Angela Fernandez from GS1 US on how traceability and certification are reshaping how consumers trust and choose sustainable products.

As sustainability claims come under greater scrutiny, the session explores what it takes for certifications to be credible, comparable, and actionable in a digital retail environment - and how a leading e-commerce retailer is rethinking product certification from the ground up.

Have you heard of biochar but aren't quite sure what it is or what it could mean for your products? This one is for you.In the next session of "How to be in sustainability when the vibes are off," we're getting into material innovation with Garrett Benisch, Director of Design Development at Bioforcetech Corporation - exploring what biochar actually is and whether it could open up new possibilities around carbon, material health, and circularity.

🔗 Sign up here: https://ow.ly/xh1p50YW2vt

👉 You can explore the full series overview and what’s coming next on our website here: https://ow.ly/LEUl50YW2vu

REACH reform may be on hold but the need for safe, circular product design isn’t.

With the European Commission stepping back, for now, from a full revision of REACH, one thing is clear: stronger chemicals policy won’t arrive on a single, predictable timeline. Yet hazardous substances continue to circulate in products, materials and recycling streams, creating real risks for human health, circularity and long‑term business resilience.

In this context, waiting for regulation is not a neutral choice. Expectations from brands, retailers, investors and public buyers are already moving faster than legislation, with growing demand for credible proof that products are designed to be safe, transparent and circular.

Our latest article explains why product‑level, third‑party verified action matters more than ever and how Cradle to Cradle Certified® helps companies translate ambition into measurable, science‑based progress today.

Read the full article in our link in bio!

In a more regulated and AI-driven economy, verified product information has become the backbone of both commercial visibility and legal compliance.

Join us on 28 May for our C2C Certified® webinar, moderated by Elwyn Grainger-Jones, Executive Director of the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, bringing together visionary leaders and industry pioneers working at the frontier of verified data, design, and market access.

Among the speakers joining us:

William McDonough, Co-Founder of the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute and MBDC, co-author of Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, and recently named to the inaugural TIME100 Climate List of the 100 Most Influential Leaders Driving Business Climate Action, has spent decades making the case that how products are designed and what they’re made of matters - and that this information needs to be transparent, verified, and actionable. That argument has never been more relevant than it is today.

Kimberly Shenk, Co-Founder and CEO of Novi, is working at the intersection of data and commerce. Through Novi, she helps CPG and retail brands navigate agentic commerce, where verified product data determines visibility, discoverability, and trust. Named to the Inc. Female Founders 500 list for the second time in 2025, Shenk brings a rare combination of data science expertise and entrepreneurial experience.

Two perspectives, one urgent question: how does verified product data shape the decisions that matter most?

Join us online on 28 May, 4:00–5:00 PM CET. 👉 https://ow.ly/eQRR50YVqZM

Ren DeCherney, our Director of Built Environment, will be at Clerkenwell Design Week in London - one of the leading gatherings for the global design community, bringing together architects, designers, and industry experts across exhibitions, talks, and installations. She'll be there connecting with brands and partners on how circular design principles are shaping more sustainable buildings and spaces.

We hope to see you there!