Howden Joinery sustainability score: 52/100
Better than 85% of Construction / Real Estate
Leading practice starts at 60. The highest score on SINK is 71.
Limited independent evidence: only two independent sources cover this company. The score may change as more evidence appears.
Howden Joinery is a UK-based kitchen cabinet, joinery, and trade merchant. Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Runcorn, it operates over 750 depots across the UK and manufactures bespoke cabinetry.
More about Howden Joinery
The company supplies trade professionals and operates a significant manufacturing footprint alongside retail distribution.
Founded 1995Head office Runcorn, United KingdomStaff ~12,000Revenue ~£2.3BWebsite ↗
Howden Joinery has delivered material absolute emissions reductions and achieved its 2030 Scope 3 target ahead of schedule, backed by SBTi validation. Critical gaps remain: water consumption is entirely unreported despite manufacturing operations; nature impact disclosure lacks quantification and TNFD alignment; and long-term net-zero pathways beyond 2030 lack independent validation.
Howden Joinery scores 52/100 (Making progress) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Nobody can pay to change a score, speed it up or hide it. Last verified September 2026.
That places Howden Joinery joint 109th of 1,023 companies scored, and 7th of 40 in Construction / Real Estate.
What is Howden Joinery doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Controversies & Red Flags and Carbon Footprint: Operations (8/10, 7/10). Weakest on Water Impact and Nature & Biodiversity Impact (3/10, 5/10).
Where Howden Joinery lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
What would raise this score
- Its effect on waterMonitor its water use and take measures to reduce it.
- Its effect on natureMeasure its effect on nature and have it independently verified.
- Emissions from its supply chainMap its full value chain and run a supplier engagement programme.
Every question that lost points
- Emissions from its own operations7/10Its own emissions aren't independently verified or tracked over several years.
- Emissions from its supply chain6/10No full value-chain map or supplier engagement programme.
- Whether its emissions are falling7/10No consistent fall over several years across its operations and supply chain.
- How clean its energy is6/10Less than 90% of its energy shown to be renewable.
- Its effect on nature5/10Its effect on nature isn't measured or independently verified.
- How it uses materials and handles waste7/10No verified figures for reuse and recycling across the business.
- Its effect on water3/10No monitoring of water use, or no measures to reduce it.
- Its climate targets7/10Its targets aren't validated by the Science Based Targets initiative.
- How openly it reports7/10No annual impact report, or no pay linked to climate targets.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.
How is Howden Joinery's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleHas Howden Joinery's score changed?
Howden Joinery's score has moved from 48 to 52 across 4 recorded reviews, up 4 points.
- 51 → 52+120 September 2026
Rescore 51→52 (promote-refresh, frozen base 35)
- 48 → 51+32 August 2026
Rescore 48→51 (promote-refresh, frozen base 35)
- 48 → 482 August 2026
Recategorised FMCG / Consumer Goods (base 30) -> Construction / Real Estate (base 35) per sourced v2.5.1 ICB classifier
- Scored 4811 April 2026
Initial score at platform launch
What evidence is Howden Joinery's score based on?
12 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
67% of them were published by Howden Joinery itself; the rest come from independent sources.
“Our carbon emissions reporting 67 … Howden Joinery Group Plc Annual Report & Accounts 2024”
“Net Zero plan approved by SBTi in January 2024”
“95% of our baseline total emissions are Scope 3”
“more than 100 key suppliers now providing verified data and decarbonisation plans”
“committing to a 42% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions and a 25% reduction in Scope 3 emissions by 2030”
“switching 96% of its depot network over to clean, renewable energy”
“Renewable Energy Guarantees or Origin (REGO). Each year, this will avoid around 10,000 tonnes of indirect carbon emissions”
“All Howdens' timber products are Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) or … PEFC certified”
“Prohibit the sourcing of timber from any biodiversity sensitive areas or of any CITES listed species”
“We achieved zero to landfill through the Recycling of Plastics, Aggregates, Wood and Cardboard”
“Total 2021 baseline emissions: 1.2m TCO2e (estimated)”
“The Committee will work with the Audit Committee on a CSRD implementation plan during 2025”
If you believe a source has been misread or a newer version exists, submit a challenge.
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How does Howden Joinery compare with other construction / real estate companies?
Where Howden Joinery sits among construction / real estate peers.
Among the 40 major construction / real estate brands we've scored, Howden Joinery sits 7th of 40.
Who scores higher in Construction / Real Estate?
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Howden Joinery.
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See the breakdown →Unite Students reports verified Scope 1&2 emissions flat since 2023 despite REGO-backed electricity, while Scope 3 from embodied carbon in new builds rose 8% in 2025.
See the breakdown →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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