Interface, Inc., parent company of InterfaceFLOR Canada, Inc., continues to make progress on the company’s efforts to reduce environmental impacts, push the envelope on innovation, and to introduce other companies to the business case for sustainability. The company today announced its Ecometrics results for 2008, amid news that Interface has been ranked number one in the Survey of Sustainability Experts by GlobeScan, ahead of such corporations as BP and General Electric.
“It is gratifying to be recognized for our efforts on a global scale,” says Dan Hendrix, CEO of Interface, Inc. “Mission Zero is about more than just the Interface journey. It’s about demonstrating and sharing a new business model that aligns people, products, profit and the planet.”
In reporting its Ecometrics for 2008, the company offers the following highlights:
• ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS ARE DOWN Interface’s net greenhouse gas emissions are down 71 per cent from its 1996 baseline, 34 per cent from reductions, and 37 per cent from offsets. Energy consumption per unit of production is down 44 per cent since 1996, and 28 per cent of the company’s global energy supply is from renewable sources. Notably, 89 per cent of electricity is renewable, including three factories that are operating on 100 per cent green electricity. Water intake per unit of production is down 72 per cent from 1996 levels.
• SUSTAINABILITY CONTINUES TO DRIVE INNOVATION Interface’s continued focus on closing the loop on product manufacture through the ReEntry program resulted in the diversion of 43 million pounds of carpet and carpet scrap from the landfill in 2008, bringing the totals for this program to 175 million pounds since 1995. ReEntry 2.0, introduced in 2007, is an innovative technology that allows the company to recover carpet backing and face fiber and use them in making new products.
• CLOSING THE LOOP Recycled and bio-based materials make up 24 per cent of the raw materials used in Interface operations, a critical piece in the company’s progress away from virgin materials.
• WASTE REDUCTION CONTINUES Total waste sent to landfills since 1996 has been reduced 67 per cent across company operations. Additionally, the focus on reducing process and material waste through Interface’s QUEST program has produced impressive results, netting the company $405 million in cumulative, avoided waste costs since 1996.