Quality

Accent are commited to sourcing only high quality products which meet international standards. We proudly hold ISO certification for the design, manufacture and supply of commercial workspace furniture

  • Accent hold ISO 9001 certification.

    What is ISO 9001: 2015?

    This standard is based on a number of quality management principles
    including a strong customer focus, the motivation and implication of top management, the process approach and continual improvement. These principles are explained in more detail in ISO’s quality management principles. Using ISO 9001 helps ensure that customers get consistent, good-quality products and services, which in turn brings many business
    benefits.

  • Accent hold ISO 14001 certification.

    What is ISO 14001: 2015?

    ISO 14001 is an internationally recognized standard for environmental management systems (EMS). It provides a framework that organizations can follow to establish, implement, maintain, and continually improve their environmental performance. The standard outlines requirements for identifying environmental aspects, setting objectives and targets, implementing operational controls, and monitoring and evaluating environmental performance.

  • Accent hold ISO 45001 certification.

    What is ISO 45001?

    ISO 45001 is an international standard that specifies requirements for an occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system. It provides a framework for organizations to proactively manage risks related to occupational health and safety, promote a safe and healthy work environment, and continually improve OH&S performance.

  • Our Summit II Electric and Fixed height desks, Duo II bases are compliant with BIFMA standards.

    What is BIFMA?

    BIFMA is the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer's Association. The mission of this nonprofit organization is to create voluntary standards that promote safe working environments. Since its inception, BIFMA has become the industry leader in developing standards that ensure product performance and buyer confidence. Products with BIFMA offer outstanding: Durability, Safety, and Sustainability.

Accent Environmental Statement

Accent strive to be a leader in environmental sustainability and believe that a successful future for our business and the customers we serve depends on the sustainability of the environment, communities and economies in which we operate.

As a responsible company we bear a responsibility to consider the impacts of our actions and how they affect the environment both in terms of our own operations, and indirectly through our purchasing decisions, the products and services we offer to our customers and the business opportunities we pursue.

We are committed to minimizing the impact of our operations on the environment and to demonstrating leadership by integrating environmental considerations into all our business practices.

Our design philosophy includes re-purposing existing system components everywhere possible in new designs. This prevents waste from obsoletion and also means that many product elements can be re used if products are returned.

Current initiatives:

  • We have been working with our suppliers to replace any non recyclable packaging with recyclable and or compostable packaging. We have replaced EPE foam with honeycomb cardboard on our imported desk bases. The polystyrene in our mobiles has now been replaced with honeycomb cardboard. Our Boost bases now come with cardboard inside rather than polystyrene.
  • Waste chip for fuel, approximately 75% of our woodchip waste is diverted from landfill and used as an alternative fuel source.
  • Accent is committed to engaging key suppliers who have the highest quality and environmental qualifications.

The majority of our board and aluminium extrusion manufacturers in NZ. Some of their certifications are shown below.

Our acoustic panels are a minimum 65% recycled content. Manufactured using industrial grade non-woven Polyester Fibre made by recycling PET, and waste material from plastic bottles.

  • What is FSC?

    The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international, non-governmental organisation dedicated to promoting responsible management of the world’s forests.

  • What is Environmental Choice?

    Environmental Choice provides a credible and independent standard to guide people who want to purchase and use products that are proven to be better for the environment.

  • What is Track My Tree?

    With a Track my Tree code for your native veneer, you can be confident there is a documented chain of custody from the source right through to our veneer press. This also includes a valid MPI permit for harvesting and GPS location information.

  • What is Green Tag?

    If a material or product is Green Tag Certified, it will show that has been proven to be safe, ecologically friendly, and socially responsible when compared to other products.

  • Our NZ manufactured aluminum extrusion is 100% Recyclable.
    Over 75% of all aluminium produced is still in use today. The most durable, diverse product is also the lowest cost-effective material for recycling

Product Stewardship

Product stewardship is about Accent taking responsibility for the products we buy, make and sell so they’re not ending up in landfill. That means designing and making products to last, then putting systems in place to enable them to be reused and recycled when they are worn out.

Initiatives include providing repair services to extend the life of a product and take back schemes so a product’s valuable materials can be used again and again.

For our customers choosing to purchase from Accent means choosing to buy from a company that provides end of life solutions for their products rather than passing on a problem.

Sustainable Design

The Accent product development team design all our products in house. At the forefront of our design process we focus on the following key areas:

Longevity of Product

We always focus on the longevity of our products, keeping to a standard range of neutral colours means furniture will not look outdated and customers are likely to keep around for much longer. In fact we actively discourage using the “latest” fashionable colours for desking. We design classic pieces that will not become obsolete in a few years and focus on manufacturing quality for durability.

Materials

We only use NZ made board and raw wood for all of our standard manufactured products. Our main melamine suppliers Laminex and Prime Panels both have either ISO or relevant quality/sustainability & environmental certifications. We focus on looking for NZ alternatives to our overseas suppliers.

Where items are not available to purchase in New Zealand, our purchasing team ensure that the suppliers we use are ISO accredited or have other relevant quality/sustainability & environmental certifications.
When designing a new product we adjust sizes to optimise the materials being used which leads to less waste being generated.

Quality

All of our products are prebuilt and tested before launch, this ensures the materials we have selected are right for the products we sell. We give a 15 year warranty on our products (with a few exceptions) and we expect our furniture to last well beyond this.

Packaging

When designing any new products we look at how this will be transported using minimal packaging. If packing is required our aim is that this is 100% recyclable.

Transportation

We stock limited colours in our desk and table base ranges, this means we are normally only transporting full containers into NZ with maximum timeframes in between shipping.

We run our own trucks into Auckland and these are filled prior to dispatch, saving on transportation costs. We have one collection per week to other parts of NZ, thus maximising each load.

Manufacturing Efficiency

Lean
To increase efficiency we use Lean Manufacturing, which aims to reduce waste from the manufacturing process to cut costs and increase efficiency.

ISO14001 (Environmental Management)
ISO9001 (Quality Management)
Accent have now obtainined ISO certification for our business.


We have replaced all the lighting in our manufacturing plants with LED for greater energy efficiency.

Reduce

Optimisation of Products
Our programming and CAD team work out the most efficient way to use board which results in minimum wastage.

Offcuts
If suitable for future reuse, offcuts of board, fabric and PVC edging generated during manufacture are logged in our stock system.

Packaging
Our aim is to reduce packaging where possible. Accent use specialised furniture carriers for all our deliveries (exc courier items). This means we use the absolute minimum of packing for all of our manufactured items. We are currently researching alternatives to make all our packaging 100% recyclable.

Reuse

Accent keep our furniture simple with minimum parts which are all reconfigurable.

A simple kit of parts enables reconfiguration of desking and storage options. i.e Balance fixed height desk has 4 sizes of leg but includes adjustable beam/cable tray. This enables the desks to be changed from back to back to single, inline to back to back and more by simply adding or removing parts, sizes to be modified using existing bases and adding the smallest amount of additional parts required.

Both Grid 40 and Connect are completely reconfigurable with standard size frames and components. Adding additional components can extend or change the use of Grid 40.

Our steel frame fixed desks can be re powder coated if needed and will look as good as new to be reused in a fitout. Tops can be reused or replaced.

Packing sheets and dunnage’s are on sold to be reused.

Repair

Accent have our own in house repair team. This means that any issues can be dealt with quickly with minimal disruption to customers. If a good maintenance and repair schedule is put in place the products are less likely to be discarded. Having a stock of parts to carry out repairs quickly enables customers to have confidence in Accent products.

Recycle

Raw materials used in manufacturing:

  • MDF or PTB: there is currently no way to recycle this board in NZ. Accent chip our waste board to minimize the effect on landfill and are currently looking at waste chip for fuel
  • Aluminium: raw materials are purchased in NZ and Australia. Aluminium is 100% recyclable at many locations around NZ
  • Our steel mobiles and desk bases can be disassembled and the steel recycled
  • Up to 75% of our wood chip waste is diverted from landfill and used as a fuel alternative

Packaging:

  • Cardboard 100% recyclable: our Buy NZ made products are packaged where required using cardboard boxes manufactured in NZ using recovered fibre from NZ forestry
  • Soft plastic wrap: used on manufactured storage is now recyclable
  • Polystyrene: now recyclable in NZ through the Expol or Divert NZ

Accent Furniture Take Back Scheme

If you are replacing Accent product with new Accent product we will take back any of our furniture on site that is unable to be reused. We will then either:

  • Pass on to charitable organisations
  • Sell in the 2nd hand market if possible
  • Refurbish to reuse: Strip down to parts which can be reused for spares/repairs prolonging the life of products
  • Recycle: break down remaining components for recycling

*Conditions Apply:
The cost of freight and any installer costs to disassemble furniture will be chargeable to the customer. Accent may arrange collection but this will be chargeable. Any desking must be disassembled ready for return. Only Accent furniture items are eligible for return under this schem

Download Product Stewardship Scheme

New Zealand Made

A wide range of our products are certified ‘Buy NZ Made’.

By designing, sourcing and manufacturing products in New Zealand we can:

  • Eliminate stockouts
  • Reliably offer fast and flexible delivery timeframes
  • Customize products to suit the unique needs of your customers
  • Reduce carbon footprint
  • And keep great Kiwis employed!

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