Does any company make a truly sustainable floorcovering? No. But at Interface, we’re making progress...

Interface is much more than just a carpet company - we are able to offer a total solution to all flooring requirements. Sustainability is central to the philosophy and business objectives of the company, with a common international goal to become the first truly sustainable enterprise on earth.

Founded in 1973, Interface is a global company, producing in 27 manufacturing sites located in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Australia, and Thailand; and we sell these products in more than 110 countries. Interface produces commercial broadloom carpet, textiles, chemicals, architectural products, cable management flooring systems, and manufactures and sells more than 40 per cent of all the carpet tile used throughout the globe today. This global reach allows us to offer consistent and reliable service to multinational clients anywhere in the world.

The company is the world’s largest manufacturer of modular carpet under the Interface and Heuga brands which are well suited to commercial and residential sectors. We also enjoy a leading position in the high quality, designer oriented segment of the broadloom and woven carpet markets; our Bentley and Prince Street brands offer style and comfort to residential and contract installations.

Interface now commit to design all new products in our portfolio to be more sustainable - and to use less materials and energy to create the award-winning products for which we are renowned.

At one time, it was good enough for a flooring product to be beautiful, luxurious and strong. Times are more demanding. So are we.

Design today is about looking forward to sustainability, way beyond recycling the materials of the past. What’s more, we’ve discovered that the more value to the environment, the better the design.
And the better the design, the more value for our customers. Everyone wins.

At Interface we've developed a six-step approach for developingenvironmentally sustainable products. Each step gets us progressively closer to a truly sustainable product. When you evaluate floorcovering choices, see how they measure up against these six benchmarks. The results can help support a better-informed specification decision.

1. Use renewable materials.
This is our ultimate goal. We've already made prototypes of floorcoverings created from hemp, wool, PLA (a corn extract) and other organic materials that can be grown sustainably and are ultimately compostable.

2. Design for easy recyclability.
Often, the biggest obstacle to recycling a product is that it can not be readily broken down when it's reclaimed. Where possible, we have built a "zipper" into products, which allows us to more easily separate their component parts.

3. Use a single polymer for everything.
Using one material for both the backing and fibre eliminates the need to separate components and makes recycling easier and less costly. We're working on floorcoverings made entirely from
a single polymer such as polypropylene or polyester.

4. Use recycled material wherever possible.
True recycling means keeping products in their own loop. So, we recycle carpet backing into carpet backing after we first remove the face fibre, which has a different and more valuable material composition. We are moving to a situation where we are increasingly sourcing recycled yarn for a number of our products.

5. Deliver more value using less material.
Density, not face weight, determines the performance of a carpet. By innovating to provide greater value while consuming fewer resources, we've been able to develop new flooring products that can better adapt to changing aesthetic and functional needs. Wabi™ from Interface is a great example. It uses a third less material than conventional carpet, yet won the IIDA Apex Award for best product in 1998, beating all other carpet types.

6. Reduce waste.
Despite the fact that we've grown considerably since 1994, our waste reduction programmes allowed us to use some 2 million kilogrammes less raw material to make an equivalent volume of product in 2000.

These products and services - and many more - demonstrate our commitment to creating more value with less “stuff”:

Chenille Warp: A retrospective look at floors
Chenille Warp is a new member of the Interface product family. Chenille Warp contains 80% recycled yarn content and is made using 100% renewable electricity.

Entropy : natural patterning for near-zero installation waste
A new loop-pile carpet tile that redefines flexibility, repairability, adaptability and reusability, with patterns as random as nature so every floor is unique, and uniquely beautiful. Entropy floors are
designed to be easily repurposed, revised and refreshed. Because the tile can be laid in any direction, with no pattern match and each tile unique, installation is quicker and less waste is generated.

Evergreen Lease (See Evergreen Lease)
Through a single monthly payment, Interface brings together the broadest array of products and services in the industry to offer total flooring solutions, including product selection, installation,
routine maintenance, and reclamation.

Factor 4 Spray Adhesive System
The Factor 4 Spray Adhesive System is a non-toxic, environmentally friendly spray adhesive system. It comes in recyclable and biodegradable packaging.

Interlock : Using 100% recycled materials
Made with 100% recycled vinyl and 100% renewable electricity, Interlock offers a sustainable resilient modular floorcovering. Interlock can be recycled back into new material at the end of its life.

ReEntry: Ensuring no more carpet goes into landfill (See ReEntry)
To become sustainable we must ensure that carpet is kept from landfill. Interface is committed to taking back carpet at the end of its installed life and either re-purposing the product, recycling or downcycling. We will take either our own or other manufacturers’ products for ReEntry.

Sabi: The beauty of things unconventional
Sabi is another new addition to our family of products. It is made using between 80 and 100% recycled nylon yarn and is produced using 100% renewable electricity.

Wabi : an award winner
Wabi uses a third less material than conventional carpet, yet won the IIDA Apex Award for best product in 1998, beating all other carpet types.

Looking to the future, Interface will strive to develop products whose entire composition (facecloth and backing) is made from one polymer type. These single polymer products will eliminate the need for processes to separate the component parts of the product .

We are also evaluating polymers made from raw materials derived from natural resources such as plants.
These biopolymer fibres derived from non-petroleum based resources are intended not only to be recyclable, but also compostable.

Although a 100% sustainable product does not exist today, we are steadily climbing “Mount Sustainability." We will be constantly moving up that mountain, replacing old products with newer, more exciting, more environmentally friendly ones.

For further information contact sustainability@eu.interfaceinc.com.
Or visit our Sustainability Website at www.interfaceeurope.com/sustainability