Natural stone is obtained from quarries in numerous places in the world, from South Africa to Norway and from Brazil to India. Each resource-rich area has its own unique colour and look.
The material is taken from the earth using explosives and large industrial equipment and is then transported in blocks of 20 tons to the processing industry. where they will convert the blocks of granite into slabs which we can subsequently purchase to turn into worktops.
The processing industry for almost all types of granite is located in Italy, where the blocks of natural stone arrive by boat from all the corners of the world. The only exception being the natural stone varieties from India where the processing takes place domestically and where we purchase our material from a local block processor.
As many types of natural stone are obtained from countries where working conditions and wages are often totally different from those in Europe, and where child labour and debt slavery could still occur, Jetstone considers it hugely important to select its suppliers with the utmost of care. We co-operate as much as possible with companies who own the granite quarries themselves, to ensure a clear view of where our products are coming from. Further on, we personally visit companies and quarries, often together with local independent inspectors. On these occassions, audits are carried out by, for example, Xertifix, an NGO that fights for better working conditions and environmental protection in the stone sector in India. The lightest inkling that unwanted practices take place, can be enough reason to cease the collaboration with a supplier.
As a company that acquires many of its materials abroad, Jetstone obviously meets the regulations imposed by the Dutch government where sustainable and responsible acquisitions are concerned. At Jetstone, however, we take this much further by working according to a ‘Code of Conduct’. In this document, Jetstone commits itself and its suppliers to a number of important legal, ethical, environmentally technical and social norms and standards. This Code of Conduct was signed by all our Indian suppliers and is also discussed with possible new suppliers, which is an important step in a country where much information is still quite obscure.
In May 2019, we signed the IMVO initiative TruStone. In addition to fellow companies in our industry, Minister Sigrid Kaag and representatives of the organisations FNV, CNV and Arisa, among others, also signed.
Over the past two years, various parties in the Dutch and Belgian natural stone sector have worked hard on this covenant. The objective of the TruStone Initiative is clear: the parties involved want to create transparency and take a stand against violations of the environment and human rights, which may still occur during the extraction of natural stone in Asia, Africa and South America. As an individual company, you can hardly influence this; as a sector in cooperation with (government) organisations, we are much stronger.
Curious about our complete plan of approach for TruStone? You can find it here.
Complaints and Disputes Committee TruStone initiative
TruStone has set up a complaints mechanism to stand strong together and to give those involved the opportunity to actively report complaints and abuses.
Those involved can report issues through this website. This e-mail address can also be used: trustone-complaints@internationalrbc.org to report complaints and abuses directly.
Together, we aim to make the chain transparent, make abuses negotiable and improve it.
Jetstone is also working with MO-B, Stone and NGO Arisa on a project, subsidised by the RvO, which must lead to an improvement in the social and environmental conditions at Indian granite suppliers within a period of four years. It will chart the Indian natural stone chain in even more detail, from the work in the quarries to the processing of the raw natural stone in Indian factories.