DALTON, Ga., July 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Shaw Industries Group, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company, has released its 2012 corporate sustainability report.

Key highlights from the report – titled Looking Ahead – include:

• Reclaiming and recycling more than 600 million pounds of post-consumer carpet since 2006
• Surpassing 60 percent of Shaw products being Cradle to Cradle CertifiedCM
• Achieving LEED® certification for three additional facilities
• Reducing water intensity by 33.7 percent since 2006
• Providing 56,196 associate volunteer hours and more than $2 million in contributions to community causes
• Breaking ground on a manufacturing facility in Nantong, China to serve the thriving Asia market – representative of the company's efforts to produce products locally

"We're proud of the progress we've made. We strive to continuously improve every aspect of our business," said Shaw CEO Vance Bell. "This guides not only our commitment to sustainability and innovation, but everything we do, every day."

With this focus on continued improvement in mind, Shaw also has introduced new environmental performance goals.

Shaw's 2030 environmental performance goals include:

• Reducing energy intensity 40 percent
• Reducing total waste to landfills 100 percent
• Reducing hazardous waste 100 percent
• Reducing water intensity 50 percent
• Achieving an OSHA incidence rate of zero
• Designing 100 percent of products to Cradle to Cradle® protocols

Shaw will report its progress toward these goals through the company's annual sustainability report. "Our corporate sustainability report is a vital part of our continued commitment to providing our stakeholders with a substantive and transparent look at our holistic approach to sustainability – across a broad spectrum of key sustainability indicators," said Paul Murray, vice president of sustainability and environmental affairs at Shaw.

Shaw's 2012 report marks the fifth year the company has published an annual corporate sustainability report. The report was prepared at the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) 3.1 Application Level B for transparency and disclosure. The report received an application level check by the Global Reporting Initiative. It also received an independent assurance review by Deloitte and Touche LLP to achieve the GRI B+ level.

Looking Ahead, the Shaw Industries Group, Inc. 2012 Corporate Sustainability Report, as well as past reports can be accessed online at sustainability.shawgreenedge.com.

About Shaw
The world's largest carpet manufacturer and a leading floorcovering provider, Shaw Industries Group, Inc. is a vertically integrated manufacturer that supplies carpet, rugs, hardwood, laminate, resilient, tile & stone flooring products and synthetic turf to residential and commercial markets worldwide. A wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. with more than $4 billion in annual sales and 23,000 associates, Shaw is headquartered in Dalton, Georgia, with salespeople and/or offices located throughout the U.S., as well as Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Mexico, Singapore and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit www.shawfloors.com/about-shaw.

SOURCE Shaw Industries Group, Inc.