Dalton—Shaw Industries’ ReWorx flooring has been recognized in Fast Company’s Innovation by Design awards for 2022, which honor the designers and businesses solving the most crucial problems of today and anticipating the pressing issues of tomorrow. ReWorx flooring received honorable mention in three categories: Circular Design, Materials and Sustainability.
The newly introduced hybrid flooring offers the warmth and cleanability of a soft surface, with the durability of a hard surface and is designed to meet the performance and sustainability needs of a wide range of commercial properties, according to Shaw. Made with 100% PET fiber, ReWorx flooring incorporates an average of 61 recycled post-consumer plastic bottles per square yard and is fully recyclable back into new ReWorx flooring at the end of its first life on the floor.
Through Shaw’s Environmental Guarantee, the product can be picked up at no charge to the customer using the company’s re[TURN] Reclamation Program to be recycled into the next generation of ReWorx flooring, continuing the cycle of landfill diversion.
ReWorx flooring will be available from Shaw’s Patcraft, Philadelphia Commercial and Shaw Contract brands by the first quarter of 2023 and is Cradle to Cradle Certified Bronze (v3.1) having been assessed for material health, product circularity, clean air and climate protection, water and soil stewardship and social fairness.
“We have been committed to designing safe and circular products according to Cradle to Cradle design principles for more than 20 years,” said Tim Baucom, Shaw Industries president and CEO. “We’re a customer-centric organization, and ReWorx exemplifies our long-term commitment to helping those customers design spaces for people and the planet and demonstrates how sustainability and innovation are inextricably linked.”
Kellie Ballew, vice president of global sustainability and innovation, added, “Shaw launched the world’s first PVC-free, recyclable carpet tile, EcoWorx, in 1999. We saw an opportunity to meet customers’ design, performance and sustainability needs in a completely new way. EcoWorx ultimately became our first Cradle to Cradle Certified product and the first flooring product in the world to achieve this rigorous product standard. Today, almost 90% of the products we manufacture are Cradle to Cradle Certified. ReWorx continues that legacy and illustrates the power of great teams coming together from throughout the company—keenly focused on our customers’ current and future needs and perpetually seeking inventive ways to design products with people and planet in mind.”
The Innovation by Design Awards competition, now in its 11th year, features a range of blue-chip companies, emerging startups and young talents. It is one of the most sought-after design awards in the industry, according to Shaw. “A common theme among this year’s Innovation by Design honorees, which range from healthcare interfaces to autonomous driving technology, is permanence,” said Brendan Vaughn, editor-in-chief of Fast Company. “The products that leaped out to our editors and judges went against our quick-fix consumer culture, while also manifesting a more inclusive vision of design.”
To see the complete list of Fast Company Innovation by Design winners, finalists and honorable mentions, visit www.fastcompany.com/innovation-by-design/list.