Sealy Environmental Sustainability
Listed below are steps that Sealy has taken to improve the environmental sustainability of its products.
As the world’s largest bedding manufacturer, Sealy Corporation recognizes the importance of environmental sustainability and takes seriously its corporate responsibility for good stewardship in this effort. We produce high quality, durable sleep systems that provide our customers with the highest levels of sleep comfort and wellness. Our goal is to reach an acceptable balance between sustainability and product quality, performance and durability, based upon the practical application of the most advanced technologies available. We are currently embarked on a two-fold approach to reduce our environmental footprint:
1. To ensure that our current operations and the operations of our suppliers are environmentally friendly as possible.
2. To search for economically feasible ways to improve the sustainability of our product.
WOOD
Sealy’s lumber resource is certified to SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative) or CSA (Canadian Standard Association) standards. This lumber company:
• Manages more land that is independently certified to sustainable forest management standards than any other company in the world.
• Reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 10% since 2000
• Reduced energy consumption by 8% since 2003
• 100% of the company’s woodland will be certified ISO 14001 by the end of 2007.
FOAMS
• Sealy’s foam supplier recycles 100% of its polyurethane scrap for use in the production of other consumer products (i.e. carpet).
• Sealy’s insulator pads are made from 100% recycled textiles
STEEL
• 100% of the steel products in Sealy sleep systems come from scrap-based steel.
• Because of their patented design, Sealy innerspring units can be compressed instead of bailed (rolled), so that more innerspring units fit in a truckload. Fewer truckloads provide greater fuel efficiency and reduced emissions.
FIRE RETARDANT MATERIALS
Sealy chose to use only environmentally-friendly Fire Retardant materials to meet the new US federal FR standards.
By design, Sealy FR materials have inherent fire-retardant properties. As a result, no chemicals, including halogens,or harsh metals are used in Sealy FR materials.
LEAN MANUFACTURING
Sealy has been using Lean Manufacturing methods since 2004. Lean Manufacturing is the production of goods using less of everything compared to common mass production practices. Specific Sealy initiatives as they relate to Lean Manufacturing include:
1. Scrap Reduction
Sealy has reduced its scrap per piece produced by 64% from approximately 1.8 lbs per piece in June 2004 to approximately .65 lbs per piece in August 2007.
2. Recycling
a. 100% of manufacturing scrap in Sealy plants is taken to minimize fuel use by NorthStar (a recycling company) to be recycled for other products. Scrap includes:
i. Textiles
ii. Foams
iii. Plastics
b. Both wood and metal pallets are sent back to the components plant for re-use.
3. Logistics
a. Sealy uses a computerized route optimization software system that optimizes the transportation of their trucks
b. Sealy has consolidated transportation in North America where appropriate.
c. Sealy has selected suppliers based on their proximity to Sealy manufacturing and components plants.
4. Non Essential Materials Reduction
Sealy has minimized the use of secondary materials that are not critical to bed manufacturing and has developed environmentally preferable options (i.e. reduced corrugated packaging)
SECONDARY BEDDING
Sealy has set up an entire division to channel excess production to secondary bedding markets. This minimizes the amount of product and materials going to landfills, and includes:
• Sleep systems produced from excess raw materials
• Production overruns
• Off-specification sleep systems
• Prototypes and experimental sleep systems
Environmental Initiatives
