Article Number : 2480 |
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| Date | 9/18/2007 9:03:56 AM |
| Written By | LGM & Associates Technical Flooring Services |
| View this article at: | //floorbiz.com/BizResources/NPViewArticle.asp?ArticleID=2480 |
| Abstract | Dalton—Mohawk Industries has literally hundreds of environmentally oriented projects in the works at any given time... |
| Article | Dalton—Mohawk Industries has literally hundreds of environmentally oriented projects in the works at any given time. These range from internal efforts to cut emissions at a single plant, to the industry’s largest recycling project that converts as much as one-quarter of all the soft drink bottles sold in the U.S. into carpet fiber. To allow consumers, dealers, employees and others to better understand the full scope of Mohawk’s environmental efforts, the company has launched Greenworks, an umbrella? program for all of the mill’s green projects. “It’s easy to say you’re green; it’s a lot more difficult to actually be green,”?noted Frank Endrenyi, Mohawk’s vice president of sustainable development. “Greenworks is designed to help people understand how much effort goes into this process and how it impacts every level of our company.” Endrenyi said Greenworks covers the spectrum of environmental practices, “the 5 Rs—recycle, renew, reuse, recover and reduce.” He noted that Mohawk leads the flooring industry in many environmental efforts and has been cited by government agencies as a pioneer for other industries to follow. “Mohawk is the largest recycler in the flooring industry,” Endrenyi said. “We currently divert more than three billion pounds of pre- and post-consumer waste from landfills, and every year this number continues to grow. More than 500 Mohawk products—carpet, carpet tiles, cushion, laminates and ceramic tile—contain recycled materials.” He explained these materials come from our processes and from a range of other products, including old tires, roofing materials, old wood furniture, soft drink bottles, carpet and others sources. “We recycle the old tires into designer doormats. Creating new tires uses thousands of gallons of water and crude oil, but turning worn-out tires into doormats uses ingenuity, and shows our commitment to protect the environment.” Endrenyi stressed the magnitude of Mohawk’s recycling effort. “How big is a billion compared to a million? If you put it in terms of time, you could compare it like this: A million seconds is 11.5 days; A billion seconds is nearly 32 years. That’s how large Mohawk’s recycling operation is now, and it’s going to get bigger.” One key element in Mohawk recycling is a new recycling center concept for post-consumer carpet. Endrenyi said Mohawk has been working with the carpet industry’s CARE (Carpet America Recovery Effort) initiative to develop new ways of approaching the challenge of what to do with old carpet. The Greenworks Center is unique in that it can process not just nylon 6 but all major types of synthetic fiber. New technology What’s more, the Greenworks Center “uses patent-pending technology to process 100% of the carpet fiber, backing and latex” and recover approximately 90% of all materials for reuse, he noted. The facility is also portable, so it can go to the carpet, which makes recycling more feasible. It can be scaled for the amount of material that needs to be processed. It can also process certain thermoplastic non-carpet recyclables. Most importantly, though, is that with this system, almost no carpet materials end up going into landfills.? Endrenyi said the Greenworks Center is now open in Chatsworth, Ga., but other locations can be built. Because the plants can be built anywhere, recyclers can keep costs down by being close to any Greenworks processing center. Mohawk’s SmartStrand fiber, made with DuPont Sorona polymer, was introduced three years ago as the first major fiber innovation in nearly two decades. Mohawk recently announced nearly 40% of the polymer used to produce the fiber will be manufactured from a bio-base of corn rather than petroleum (FCNews, June 25/ July 2). The new SmartStrand fiber is currently being phased into Mohawk production, and all products in the line will be bio-based by the fall. Endrenyi also believes the Greenworks platform will help convey a better understanding of Mohawk’s many programs designed to reduce the use of energy and materials and boost manufacturing efficiency. “Green doesn’t have to mean more expensive,”? he said. “In fact, the opposite is often true.” He noted Mohawk’s plant in Dublin, Ga., stopped using natural gas earlier this year and now generates energy from yellow grease, a by-product of food processing. “The cost is similar to natural gas and the resource is renewable. Many Mohawk plants now use biomass products for energy.” Endrenyi also said since 1995, Mohawk has cut its use of water by half in select manufacturing facilities, and several plants have 100% recycling of waste water generated from manufacturing. Phosphorous emissions in the northwest Georgia area have been reduced by 70%. Carpet cores are made from waste carpet and other waste materials rather than paper, saving thousands of trees each year. The plastic cores also last longer and are less likely to break. When they get old, they’re recycled again to make new cores. “We are literally looking at every step of our operations to become even better environmental stewards,” he said. “That’s one of the things that makes Greenworks so exciting; it lets us exchange more information, which offers the opportunity for even more ideas.”? The Greenworks platform is particularly important, Endrenyi said, because it gives Mohawk a single voice for communicating its myriad of environmental programs globally. And, because environmental communications for companies will continue to grow in the coming years as consumers become even more aware of green efforts. Survey says... “Our studies show half of U.S. consumers recycle,”? he noted. “In 2004, 21% said they voted for candidates in part based on their environmental records. Ninety-nine percent of schoolchildren now have access to environmental classes.” Surveys of customers also show that half worry more about environmental issues than five years ago, and 60% believe that global warming claims are either correct or understated, Endrenyi added. Fifty-nine percent said they are “somewhat or extremely likely” to purchase a carpet or flooring product that is environmentally acceptable. “With these figures in mind, we as a company need to have answers for consumers. And we need to provide our dealers with the information they will need to address the environment.” Part of this information will come from a new Greenworks project: a blog that allows Mohawk to explain its programs and readers to ask questions that will be answered by key Mohawk staff members. The blog, www.greenworksblog.com, is already live and will have regular postings on Greenworks programs. “Greenworks puts us into a position where we can have some sustained conversations with consumers and dealers,” Endrenyi concluded. “We’re looking forward to that, because we believe we have some good things to say.” |