Making sustainability accessible

Every day, we give 100% to offer products which go beyond compliance with safety and quality standards. We aim to source our products responsibly, taking societal and environmental interests into consideration in our supply chain processes. All while striving to continue to provide available and affordable products. We seek to improve product circularity, and aim to mitigate the negative impact caused by pollution from packaging by increasing the use of renewable materials and using less packaging material.

98% of factories in high risk countries were assessed on social impacts through social audits and spot checks.
Ethical Sourcing Policy updated and implemented.
100% transparency on technical, safety and social compliance for all our private label suppliers.
92% sourcing of timber products with FSC/PEFC certification and 90% of cotton sourced following standards like BCI/organic/recycled
100% of our own brand cocoa products sourced as Fairtrade.
100% of private label packaging recyclable by 2022 (no PVC or black plastics).

Responsible sourcing

Action has a global and elaborate supply chain, as it sources products for fourteen different product categories. We value environmental, human, and labour rights because we have a high potential to make positive impact and mitigate negative impact wherever we do business. Moreover, we aim to be compliant with current and future national and international laws and regulations. To live up to these values it is important to responsibly source all our products.

We have the potential to make a positive social and environmental impact through our global supply chain. The key to responsible sourcing is having insight into where and how the products Action sources are produced. That is why we aim to gain full supply chain transparency and ask suppliers to commit to our sourcing policies. We achieve transparency by mapping products to factories and measure our impact by keeping track of the percentage of factories assessed on social and environmental impact. In this way, we make sure that our factories live up to our standards.

Action’s product management

Action categorises it products in 14 product categories: Garden & Outdoor, Household, Linen, Toys, Personal Care, Laundry & Cleaning, Food & Drinks, Sports, Clothing, Stationery & Hobby, DIY, Decoration, Multimedia and Pets. However, we also make a distinction between white label and private label products. Our private labels are products that are manufactured and sold exclusively at Action. Our white label products are manufactured and packaged by a supplier and sold by Action and other companies under various brand names. In addition, we sell well-known A-brands.

Exceeding goals on cotton and timber

The responsible sourcing policies are implemented through third-party certification with strategic partners such as FSC, PEFC, Better Cotton and Fairtrade. We already achieved 90% sustainable sourcing for cotton and 92% for timber. In the past years, we have prioritised timber and cotton, in our efforts to create positive impact for the raw materials we use. We brought forward the dates by which we aim to source all our cotton and timber sustainably. In 2023, we want to have 100% sustainably sourced cocoa and cotton products, followed by sustainable timber in 2024.

100% of own brand cocoa products are sourced via Fairtrade

We are proud of the fact that 100% of our own brand (private label) cocoa products are sourced via Fairtrade. In 2021, we added a cocoa policy with concrete targets and a strategic action plan for our own brand chocolate products. Through this commitment, we want to provide cocoa farmers with a better income, dignified working conditions and the possibility to invest in their communities.

Sustainable labels to guide customers

We are increasingly able to offer our customers more certified sustainable products. Customers can find more and more products with sustainability labels on our shelves: FSC and PEFC for timber products, Fairtrade for chocolate, Rainforest Alliance for coffee and OEKO-TEX for textiles.

Circularity

In an effort to increase our circularity, we strive to improve at least five products from the fixed assortment that belong in the top 50 of each of our fourteen product categories. This gives us the opportunity to make impact at scale. We have already improved 10 categories. With the Circular Transition Indicators framework we measure the circularity of these products. We look at the three stages of circularity: design, use and end of life. Depending on the type of product functionality, we define which circular improvements to make.

Social compliance

Transparency in our supply chain is needed to monitor social compliance and detect potential vulnerabilities and risks. We are therefore continuously working together with our suppliers, other key partners and stakeholders to build a resilient supply chain. The key to responsible sourcing is having insight into where and how the products Action sources are produced. That is why we aim to gain full supply chain transparency and ask suppliers to commit to our sourcing policies. We conduct factory audits and follow ups, ensuring that the production of our own brand products and white label assortment respects our policies. Our goal is to reach 100% white label transparency in 2025.

Every year independent third parties audit the factories that work for Action. This ensures our factories comply with our Ethical Sourcing Policy.

Packaging

We embrace our responsibility to reduce the waste impact of packaging by making choices with regard to alternative packaging, using different materials, less packaging material or using another design. In 2022, we achieved our target of 100% recyclable packaging in our private label assortment. By 2025, all our packaging excluding A-brands, will have to be recyclable.

Our packaging policy applies to both our product and transit packaging. The aim of the policy is to reduce the negative social and environmental impacts of packaging within our supply chain. By reducing the amount of packaging waste and establishing circularity in all packaging.

Product News

Smarter and more sustainable packaging

21 June 2022

The production and disposal of packaging material presents an enormous challenge to the environment. By making changes in the packaging of products, we ultimately make them more sustainable.

Hotel quality towels for a small price and sustainable!

14 June 2022

Towels that give you the feeling you’re in a wellness center; that is what you can expect of our premium quality Hotel Royal towels made from 100% cotton. Hotel Royal is one of Action’s many private labels. This is a label that provides you the luxury and comfort of a hotel towel for a small price. These towels meet the requirements of the 'OEKO-TEX® Made in Green' label. Which means that the towels have been tested for harmful substances and have been manufactured under responsible conditions. On top of this, they also bear the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) label of which Action has been a member since 2018. Creating additional positive impact for cotton farmers globally.

Action’s skin care range Alvira is 100% vegan

10 May 2022

At Action we have several private label brands. One of them is Alvira Skin Care. All products under this label are 100% vegan, dermatologically tested and take care of every type of skin perfectly for a good price. Our Alvira skin care range consists of various skin care products, such as fresh face wash, micellar water (awarded with the Editors’ Choice in the Belgian Beauty Award 2021), makeup remover, day cream and more

Progress through insights into product circularity

22 April 2022

As a leading retailer, it comes as no surprise that our products are the largest impact contributors. We therefore invest in sustainable sourcing and production to enable our future and responsible growth. Our collaboration with impact organisation Circle Economy generates company wide insights into where our products stand on circularity. With the insights from circularity baseline assessments per category we can assess how circular our 14 product categories are.