It’s all about how we treat resources so that we can maximize their use without having a big impact on the environment. In other words, establishing a closed-loop system where we can keep resources in use for—ideally—eternity. And at the same time, minimizing or eliminating waste in the process. With NORNORM, the way we think about it is, “How can we have furniture in that system for as long as possible? Today, when you buy furniture, it’s very much about the linear economy thinking of ‘take, make use, and throw away’. What we’re trying to do is to take furniture into our system and refurbish it over and over—to give it a second home once it has done its job in the first client’s place. So that at the end of its life, once it can’t serve its purpose any longer, we’re asking, “How can we use the raw material to create a new furniture piece, and bring it back into the system?”

As a Dane, there’s a long tradition of interest in furniture. I was fortunate to be brought up in a home where there was a big focus on design, and furniture design in particular. So, at an early age, I had exposure to many of the Danish design classics. But the big turning point came during my MBA studies, when I did an essay on the founder of IKEA, Ingvar Kamprad. I was curious to see how IKEA’s vision is all about improving the life of the many through furniture design. That eventually led me to start working with them.

Over the last 10 years at IKEA, I worked on developing the range and sourcing products. And what I gradually realized was the enormous impact that our design choices had on people and the environment. With the products we designed, we were reaching hundreds of millions of homes every year. So it was a great opportunity, but also a big obligation. We were doing our best to create sustainable products that were produced sustainably. But I realized that even with our good intentions, the impact on the environment was still there if the product wasn’t used as the design was intended. If it wasn’t recycled, it didn’t matter if it was made out of recycled material. That made me realize we need to rethink the way business is conducted entirely if we are to solve these problems. Because products by default are not circular, but the way we use them may or may not be circular. In the future, businesses need to take greater responsibility for products during their entire lifetime. It’s no longer good enough just to say that a product can be recycled. They need to ensure it is recycled.

NORNORM didn’t have any baggage, so we could start with a circular mindset from the very beginning. We said, “OK if that’s our starting point, how do we set it up? What is the entire business model? What is the commercial logic? What is the supply chain logic? What is the range logic?” We then could take that lens on everything and develop the optimal setup. One of the successes we had was to be very blunt in saying, “This is a circular model,” at an early stage. We don’t allow our customers to buy our products. 

When we looked at the office furniture space, we saw a broken industry. It was an industry with an inferior product, with a great deal of dissatisfaction and anxiety for businesses when remodeling their offices. Yet everybody has the aspiration for a wonderful office that fuels inspiration and collaboration. So we said, “We want to do something that creates workspaces that are better for people, better for businesses, and better for the environment.” Twenty, thirty years ago, the office was all about cubicles, efficiency, head-down work, let’s get it done. Gradually, that has changed. Most businesses are today focusing on flexible workspaces, and I think that’s the future—we can create these adaptive workplaces, where regardless of what you need, we can change it. And you’re not generating waste in the process because we will simply take the furniture back, we will refurbish it, or we’ll find another home where that need is relevant. That allows you to always ensure you have a workplace that reflects your culture and the way you work as a company.

It’s incredibly difficult if you’ve been a linear business for decades, and have  refined your way of running that process. To change that into a circular model is incredibly difficult. A major challenge is getting different partners to collaborate. It’s about securing an ecosystem. We don’t believe we can solve this on our own. We see ourselves as more of a facilitator; an enabler in an ecosystem where we invite different partners—product partners, logistic partners, implementation, assembly, service, refurbishment etc. It’s an ecosystem where everybody plays their part in securing circularity in an efficient, effective way. Because that, of course, is the key. If this is not created efficiently and cost-effectively, we get into a situation like many other environmentally friendly solutions today, namely that they come with an enormous premium. And that then starts to be uninteresting, because then it’s not for the many businesses. What we want to do is something that creates impact. In order to do that, we need to appeal to the many, not the few.

One of the keys to creating a circular model is how we pick our products. We scrutinize them to ensure every single piece is capable of enabling circularity. And that may be in terms of a quality dimension— something that’s more long-lasting because it has to be able to go back, or it’s something that is easier to innovate or something for which can get spare parts. It goes without saying that it has to be responsibly produced and use recycled material and all those elements. But it goes beyond that. We need to look at the full life-cycle—how is this product going to be used over and over?  

We have quite an efficient range. We don’t create an enormous variety. Variety is really what kills a lot of these circular models. This is something that offices today are lured into—the whole idea that you can customize everything, and it’s important that you have 200 different fabrics to choose from. I think that’s something that needs to change. We need to educate businesses to consider: is it really important for you? Can you create that culture effect in other ways, like the colors on the walls, or do you need to work with the furniture? Because if you don’t, you can actually support a more circular way of thinking.

We’re no different from any other business. We want to have an inspiring workplace that fosters collaboration and wellbeing, and we use our own methods to design that. As a young company, we’re seeing big changes and new employees month by month, so it’s a space we’re constantly adapting as we grow. But it’s a mix of efficiency and workspaces where you can really do head-down work. Then there are lounge and collaboration spaces where you have more informal settings. We believe that’s the reason why you should come to work—interaction—then we give the freedom to decide where you can be your best. Do you need to get to the office today? Or are you better off focusing on work from home?

At home, we just moved from a house in the countryside to a city apartment. That’s a big change, especially since I have two sons aged five and a daughter of twelve. I love interior design and furnishing the home. I take pride in buying and selling furniture for my home. But in general, I hate wasting things. So I often keep things I’ve stopped using and can’t sell on eBay, as they might come in handy later. I’m a bit of a ‘keeper’, which at times can drive my wife crazy! At work, I find it annoyingly important that the furniture setting matches the situation. In the past, before starting a meeting, you often found me moving around tables and chairs to match the room, people, and activities. Now that we have NORNORM, the need is less.

Only when moving from Denmark 15 years ago did I start to realize what an amazing city Copenhagen has become. But it was not always like this. The city has been cleaned up greatly with a big focus on the environment and also the cultural and food arena has developed enormously during the last 10 years. There are many cafes and outdoor food markets where I love the buzz and people around. Having lived in the forest for ten years, I greatly enjoy what the city has to offer—even just a simple coffee at the local bakery. A walk or run along the beautiful waterfront is always a great way to clear your head.

I had the pleasure of being where it all started for IKEA, at Älmhult in the Swedish forest. That makes you think about how beautiful and how amazing nature is. It also gives you, or me at least, a form of obligation as to how we can pass this on through the generations. It’s very much staring at your face when you are surrounded by it all the time. So that’s something I brought with me into my thinking on the circular model at NORNORM. I’ve learned how important it is for me to do something meaningful, and how I get enormous energy from contributing to trying to take part in solving some of the big challenges we face today—and how my love of challenging the existing can be channeled into something good.

Even before going circular, it’s first and foremost about thinking, “What is my need here? Can I live without it? Can I reuse something? Can I buy second-hand?” More options seem available out there, both when it comes to traditional products, but also a lot of services. We’re seeing an uptake in service models where people are helping others to repair and upgrade their products. If people want to participate and actively involve themselves, there are a lot of opportunities out there.