Flooring company cuts emissions by a quarter

Australia’s largest manufacturer of modular carpet says it is on the way to meeting its target of reducing its environmental footprint to zero by 2020.

Australia’s largest manufacturer of modular carpet reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by a quarter in the three years between 2004 and 2007, according to an independently audited assessment.

InterfaceFLOR has subjected every aspect of its business to a stringent life cycle assessment process with the aim of reducing its environmental footprint to zero by 2020.

The company’s general manager in Australia, Clinton Squires said the Mission Zero strategy was paying off.

“These [latest] improvements mean that in 2007 we have prevented an additional 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere,” he said.

The life cycle assessment report conducted by the SGS Group shows that InterfaceFLOR improved its environmental impact by cutting back on the manufacturing process and reducing waste.

At the same time, the company increased its use of renewable materials.

Based on the ISO 14000 Environmental Standards, a life cycle assessment provides comprehensive measurements of environmental impacts on factors such as embodied energy, toxicity, pollution potential as well as greenhouse gas impacts.

“Life cycle assessment is the only way the true environmental impacts of a product can be accounted for.  We believe it must become the industry benchmark for measuring any product’s environmental credentials,” said Mr Squires.

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