Calhoun, Ga. — For the third consecutive year, Mohawk Industries was honored as the most sustainable flooring manufacturer in the 2013 Southeastern Corporate Sustainability Rankings, the only annual assessment of sustainability practices among the region’s publicly-traded companies. Mohawk also increased its overall regional rank by two places to just outside the top 10, even as the geographic reach of the rankings was expanded to include both Mississippi and Kentucky for alignment with the Environmental Protection Agency’s regions. Among Georgia-based companies, Mohawk retained its third place rank, just behind international giants UPS and Coca-Cola, which also ranked at the top of the overall regional list.
“This ranking reflects the exceptional work and dedication to sustainable practices of every individual at the company,” said Bill Kilbride, chief sustainability officer for Mohawk. “We have made marked progress toward very aggressive sustainability goals. I am incredibly proud of the work being done across our business, and I appreciate the validation of our good work that the 2013 Southeastern Corporate Sustainability Rankings provides. Our rise from thirteenth to eleventh in the expanded region speaks to our ongoing commitment to becoming a more sustainable company.”
In addition to Mohawk, other companies recognized for an exceptional sustainable performance include such well-known organizations as Bank of America, FedEx, Office Depot, Yum Brands, Lexmark, Sonoco and Louisiana Pacific.
“Our commitment to sustainability is an integral part of how we do business,” Kilbride said. “We believe in doing what’s right for our communities and for our customers. We’re proud that an independent assessment of our practices ranks us among the leaders for sustainability, and our rise in this year’s rankings indicates that our long-range plans are gaining traction.”
Mohawk employs a three-factor strategic approach to sustainability, focusing on the company’s processes, products and people. Each year the company repurposes approximately three billion pounds of waste material into higher value streams. Five of the nine ceramic segment manufacturing facilities recover and reuse all of their process waste water. Eleven of the company’s carpet segment manufacturing plants have achieved an internal “Zero Waste” status. More than 500 million pounds of biomass is used to fuel the company’s laminate and wood segment operations. Across all flooring categories, hundreds of the company’s residential and commercial products contain recycled material. Mohawk also continues to aggressively pursue a 25 percent intensity reduction in energy consumption, greenhouse gases, water use and landfill waste by the year 2020.