Environmental responsibility
As early as 1986, environmental protection was established as a corporate goal in the Otto Group. Today, we are working with specific targets to further reduce our environmental footprint. We consider the impact of our products on climate, ecosystems, and society throughout their entire lifecycle: from raw material extraction to production conditions, material usage, and shipping, all the way to customer use and disposal.
We want to achieve that our goals and activities are aligned with the 1.5-degree target of the Paris Climate Agreement. Additionally, we are working to reduce our resource consumption. The greatest impacts can be achieved through the use of materials, particularly regarding textile fibers, wooden furniture, electronics, catalog paper, and packaging. In this context, we are increasingly focusing on circular solutions.
Stories on environmental responsibility
Environmental responsibility
Climate protection
Climate protection became part of the corporate strategy as early as 1986. Since then, we have achieved a lot. For example, CO₂ emissions from our own business operations were more than halved between 2006 and 2020 and reduced by a further 30 percent by the end of 2023 (compared with the 2018 base year) – entirely without offsetting.
We aim to ensure that our targets and activities are aligned with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target. That is why, in 2022, we committed to developing a comprehensive science-based near-term target (near-term SBT) addressing our entire value chain. An SBT is a science-based greenhouse gas emissions reduction target aligned with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target. We submitted our SBT to the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) for validation in spring 2023 and successfully completed the validation process at the end of February 2024.
Near-term Science-Based Target
- Sub-target 1: Absolute scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emission reduction by 42 percent by the end of the financial year 2030/31 compared to the financial year 2021/22. At the end of the 2025/26 financial year, we achieved a reduction of 59 percent compared to the 2021/22 financial year.
- Sub-target 2 (Supplier engagement): At least 75 percent of third-party brands based on purchasing volume and at least 20 percent of marketplace partners based on Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) have set an own SBT, that was validated by the SBTi, by the end of the 2027/28 financial year. In the 2025/26 financial year, wie achieved a share of 47 percent for third-party brands and 8 percent for marketplace partners.
- Sub-target 3: Absolute reduction in Scope 3 greenhouse gas emission by 42 percent by the end of the financial year 2031/32 compared to the financial year 2021/22. At the end of the 2025/26 financial year, emissions had fallen by 15 percent compared to the 2021/22 financial year.
Reference SBTi: The official target formulation can be viewed on the SBTi website: https://sciencebasedtargets.org/target-dashboard
Circularity
In order to keep materials and products in the cycle for as long as possible through circular design, appropriate usage models such as second-hand, repair, and recycling options, we look at the entire value chain.
Preferred materials
Materials such as wood and cotton are an important foundation for designing products that are fully circular. We are working to use materials that have a lower negative impact on the environment than conventional alternatives. Our focus is on the most significant materials: fibres and wood. For example, we are therefore working to increasingly switch to preferred materials in all our products, such as FSC®-certified wood and organically grown cotton.
Responsible products
We are working to increase the share of revenue generated by products with enhanced sustainability credentials. By this, we mean products that demonstrate a verifiable improvement in at least one sustainability criterion compared with a conventional alternative – for example, through raw materials from certified production or production verified against defined standards.
The product must be certified according to a recognised standard verified by an independent third party, or contain a recognised branded fibre. In addition, the standard or label must apply to a significant proportion of the product, meaning that it must contain a defined minimum share of certified material (this applies only to certifications relating to materials).
At the end of the 2025/26 financial year, the Otto Group achieved 10 percent of its revenue in textiles, 17 percent in furniture and 12 percent in electronics with Responsible Products.
Animal and species protection
As early as 1988, we removed furs from endangered animal species and from species not kept in a manner appropriate to their needs - such as minks, martens, and sables - from our product range. Since 1991, real fur has been banned from our offerings altogether.
With regard to products relevant to animal welfare, we adhere to the following principles, which are set out in our Animal Welfare Policy:
- We do not allow products or product components derived from endangered animals.
- We continuously develop our approaches in collaboration with key stakeholders from the industry and based on new insights in the fields of animal protection and animal welfare. We regularly review our requirements to ensure their relevance and to meet our standards.
We also reject products containing mohair or angora, as well as products originating from live plucking and foie gras production. Additionally, the use of mulesing practices is prohibited. We have set ourselves the goal of using only down, feathers, sheep's wool, alpaca wool, llama wool, and cashmere wool that have been certified according to an accepted independent recycling, organic, or animal welfare standard from 2028 onwards. Since 2024, only leather that is a by-product of food production from certain animal species has been permitted.
Furthermore, the Otto Group has been a member of the international "Fur Free Retailer" program since 2014, whose signatories commit not to use real fur.
Handling of chemicals
In the various stages of the textile value chain, chemicals play an important role in ensuring properties such as color, elasticity, and quality. The Otto Group is committed to the safe handling of chemicals and the reduction of potential environmental impacts, particularly in wet processing factories (dyeing, washing, printing). To this end, we launched the BHive project in 2021, which we have been continuously developing ever since. The goal is to achieve greater transparency regarding the chemicals used, thereby contributing to more conscious handling and better management of environmental and resource risks.
Product safety
The Otto Group has established requirements and testing processes for the products it places on the market. These concern, among other things, potentially hazardous residues as well as aspects of product safety. For certain product groups, including children's clothing and toys, supplementary specifications and testing requirements apply.