Atlanta, Ga.—2019 was a landmark year for Interface and its sustainability journey. The company announced the achievement of Mission Zero with an important report—”Lessons for the Future”—and set its sights toward a new goal: to become a carbon negative enterprise by 2040.
The company’s 2019 EcoMetrics include:
- Energy efficiency at carpet manufacturing sites has improved by 46% since 1996
- 75% of energy used at owned manufacturing sites is from renewable sources, including 100% renewable electricity
- 46% of materials in the flooring products Interface sells are from recycled or bio-based sources
- Market-based GHG emissions at carpet manufacturing sites are down 96% in intensity since 1996
- Total water intake intensity at global carpet manufacturing sites is down 89% since 1996
- Waste sent to landfills from global carpet manufacturing sites is down 92% since 1996
These achievements helped propel the company forward—with more energy and clarity to advance its Climate Take Back progress and carbon goals. The company said it is proud of the work it has done to reduce the carbon footprint of its carpet tile products and the expansion of its Carbon Neutral Floors program.
After more than two decades of commitment, hard work, design leadership, supplier partnership and product innovation, it now has some of the lowest average carbon footprints for carpet tile in the industry, the company said.
To map its way to carbon negative, it must not only reduce the carbon footprint of its products, but also its total carbon impact as an enterprise. This accounts for all the carbon it’s responsible for putting into the atmosphere as a result of business—including its operational carbon emissions, product emissions and emissions from its supply chain and extended activities.
As the company reports its combined global metrics for the first time, it said it does see some lower average results compared to its historical carpet-only numbers in past reports. Because it is now including nora, some of its numbers went down, according to the company. This is not a failure; it’s a new and bigger challenge, the company said, and it is embracing it. This is an important milestone as it celebrates the integration of Interface and nora.
Moving forward, the company said it plans to build on the 25 years of progress with its carpet tile—where it has reduced its product footprint by 74% (cradle-to-gate). It will use this knowledge to reduce the footprint of its rubber flooring and LVT products, just like it did with carpet tile. In fact, the company is already making progress in this area and recently announced that all Interface LVT products now include 39% pre-consumer recycled content.