Carpet Manufacturers

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Atlas Carpet Mills

Products: Carpet
Unique Programs:
The primary fiber used by Atlas is INVISTA Antron® nylon, the first and only carpet fiber certified as an Environmentally Preferred Product® (EPP). Antron® HRC nylon contains 90% post-industrial recycled content, and is the best performing commercial nylon available (Type 6.6 nylon), assuring a longer life.
A portion of the carpet backing used on all products, called "The Enhancer", contains soybean-based "Biobalance" polymers in place of petroleum-based materials.
All products are "CRI Indoor Air Quality® Green Label" certified, meaning they do contribute to healthy air quality within structures.
Atlas participates in the INVISTA Carpet Reclamation® Program that reprocesses used carpet into ancillary products.
Atlas chooses the most energy-efficient light fixtures on the market to illuminate all company workspaces.
By taking advantage of the latest technology in waste heat recovery economizers and radiant burners, new boilers in the carpet-dying facilities reduce emissions by 75%.
Production is planned to avoid hours of peak energy consumption, reducing power outages in the centralized electrical grid and cost.
Wastewater from manufacturing is monitored to keep out hazardous materials. Water used for cleaning, rinsing and cooling is re-used in the dying process.
All glass, cardboard, paper, plastic wrap, paper drums, carpet tubes, pallets, oils, and metals are salvaged or recycled by the company to be re-used in manufacturing.

Interface

Products: Commercial and residential modular and broadloom carpet from Interface Flooring Systems and Bentley Prince Street; Terratex® brand fabrics for commercial applications.
Unique Programs:

On an absolute basis, Interface, Inc. has reduced total carbon dioxide emissions by 52% since 1996. This reduction has been achieved through improved energy efficiency, increased use of renewable energy and a major landfill gas project at its LaGrange, Georgia carpet manufacturing facility.
Approximately 11% of Interface’s global energy consumption is generated from renewable sources. Improved efficiencies and conservation efforts have reduced the total energy required to manufacture carpet.
All Interface products manufactured and shipped in North America are certified Cool Carpet, at no additional cost to the customer. This certification guarantees the carpet is "climate neutral", or all of the life cycle impacts have been offset with certified emission reduction credits (ERCs). The Cool Carpet program is third party certified by the Climate Neutral Network (U.S.), Canada, Asia-Pacific, and Climate Care (Europe).
Water intake per square meter has decreased by 81% in modular carpet facilities since 1996.
After installing an $8.50 USD brass nozzle, Interface Fabrics' Guilford of Maine Facility estimates that they will save two million gallons of water each year.
Interface Flooring Systems and Interface Fabrics offer a range of carpet and fabric products manufactured with fibers derived from rapidly renewable, bio-based (polylactic acid) resources.
Bentley Prince Street, a branch of Interface which produces broadloom carpet, has partnered with INVISTA to reclaim the carpet products through a program known as ReEntry. INVISTA processes the material to use in engineering resins, filtration devices, packaging materials, furniture, and automotive parts. ReEntry has two other options in addition to INVISTA’s part: 1. The carpet can be "repurposed" if it is still in good condition (Bentley Prince Street will donate it to charity) or, 2. It is heated in a furnace to produce steam which powers a generator, providing electricity for the neighboring community. The company acknowledges that this is not preferable because of toxic compounds released in the burning process. It does, however, keep the carpet out of landfills.
Bentley Prince Street is ISO 14001 certified.
Bentley Prince Street’s Scan and UPC products are manufactured from re-purposed "tail outs," or the little bits of yarn left over from carpet production. Both products feature unique texture details and vivid colors.
Interface eagerly reclaims its own carpet products as well as those of other manufacturers. Reclaimed vinyl backed carpets provide Interface with feedstock for its GlasBac® RE recycled vinyl composite backing, keeping millions of pounds of vinyl out of landfills and in the technical nutrient loop.
In a program known as Trees for Travel™, Interface plants trees to sequester the carbon dioxide emitted by the airplanes which transport the company’s associates. For each tree required to offset the CO², Interface plants three to increase the chance of at least one surviving.
All standard products offered by Bentley Prince Street, and a selection of products from Interface Flooring Systems have received third party Environmentally Preferable Product (EPP) certification from Scientific Certification Systems.
Thirty percent of the management positions within the company are occupied by women.
Interface’s Environmental Education Grant program awards up to thirty $500 grants a year to school projects with a focus on environmental awareness.
InterfaceFABRIC has introduced a program known as ReSKU which has a long-term goal to close the loop of the textile manufacturing process. Interface understands the need for gradual movement toward complete sustainability and incorporates transitional strategies, such as reducing the amount of waste going into landfills in the meantime, until waste itself is eliminated. Interface wants to emulate nature by using "waste fabric" as raw materials for its products, cycling them back through the loop.

Shaw

Products: Carpeting; wood flooring; ceramic flooring; rugs
Unique Programs:
In 1999, Shaw developed a 100% truly recyclable non-PVC backing called EcoWorx and a recyclable carpet yarn called Ecosolution.
The company will take-back unwanted carpet.

Useful terms to be familiar with:

Environmentally Preferred Product® (EPP)— a product that is less bad in terms of human and environmental health impacts in comparison with other products that provide the same service.

ISO 14001— ISO, or the International Organization for Standardization, is located in Geneva, Switzerland. The goal of the organization is to encourage development and implementations of voluntary international environmental management standards for businesses. According to ISO’s website, the ISO 14000 family is primarily concerned with "environmental management". The organization is working to:
- Minimize harmful effects on the environment caused by its activities
- Achieve continual improvement of its environmental performance.

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