Jeff Lorberbaum, left, chairman and CEO, and Tom Lape, president, residential.

By Steven Feldman
Louden, Tenn.— Mohawk Industries will take its environmental platform to new heights this fall when the world’s largest flooring manufacturer offers consumers the first bio-based fiber. Made partially from corn sugar, it is arguably the most significant breakthrough on the fiber side of the business since DuPont’s 1986 introduction of Stainmaster, especially considering how the industry is increasingly putting a premium on green products.

The new fiber results from a joint venture between DuPont and chemical processing company Tate & Lyle, which together on June 8 opened the doors to a facility here that will allow Mohawk to replace petroleum in its successful SmartStrand fiber made with DuPont Sorona polymer. The new facility is the first in the world to manufacture this product—dubbed Bio-PDO—using state-of-the-art industrial biotechnology. The plant will supply DuPont with chemistry to make Sorona a renewably sourced polymer.

“The Sorona product has been one of best introductions we’ve had since the company was started,” said Jeff Lorberbaum, chairman and CEO of Mohawk. “It is unusual to have a product come out and have it accepted so widely. It exceeds the performance and aesthetic expectations of our customers. And now we’re making it bio-based.”

Both Lorberbaum and Tom Lape, president of Mohawk Residential, noted there has not been anything this unique to come to carpeting in some time. “This is a positive story for our industry,” Lape said. “It keeps consumer dollars in soft surface that have been vaulting to hard surface.”

Lorberbaum added that the renewable resource-based polymer offers properties identical to petroleum-based fiber. “Chemically it’s the same. We are extremely pleased of the quality and consistency of the biological root. The fewer process variations translates into improved performance.”

Walter Fields, global business director of bio-based materials for DuPont, agreed it offers the same performance benefits as a petroleum-based product. “Sorona is one of the few products available today that offers the fully functioning performance of a premium fiber that can be made with renewable resources,” he said. “Tests show that the fiber offers superior stain resistance for tough-to-remove substances, including mustard, red wine and bleach.” He noted stains can be cleaned with warm water and a mild detergent.

Using renewably sourced PDO to make Sorona polymer results in about a 40% reduction in energy consumption and 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions versus petroleum-based PDO, Lorberbaum said. “Seven square yards of 40-ounce carpet featuring SmartStrand fiber made with DuPont Sorona renewably sourced polymer will save enough energy and natural resources equal to one gallon of gasoline,” he said.

In more general terms, production of 100 million pounds of Bio-PDO will save the energy equivalent of more than 15 million gallons of gasoline per year.

Michael Goldberg, president of Rite Rug in Columbus, Ohio, one of the largest flooring retailers in the country and a very prominent Sorona dealer ($2 million-plus at retail in 2006), is bullish on the energy angle. “At the end of the day, the home run is we don’t have to buy oil to make this carpet,” he said. “We don’t have to owe anything to Venezuela, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, etc. I actually see this as patriotic more so than bio. This seems to me to be the close. If you make carpet, and you make it in a broad line and it performs, what’s the difference maker? The difference maker is that it is made of American corn and not Middle Eastern oil. Corn allows us to keep it American and supports our economy.”

Goldberg will also leverage brand recognition to sell the carpet. “I think our selling story will start with the fact the consumer is buying from two American names and one longstanding retailer,” he said. “When you have companies such as DuPont, which has been in business 100-plus years, and Mohawk, which has been around for 100-plus years, and you combine that with Rite Rug’s 73 years in our marketplace, the customer comes in and has full faith and confidence.”

Already a success story

Retailers have been raving about SmartStrand with DuPont Sorona ever since it launched a couple of years ago. Goldberg noted that he has not heard anything negative about this product from his people. “Consumers like the colors. It performs. It sells. It competes.”

And Robert Rosenberg of Olsen Rugs in Chicago, admitted he is “kind of stunned where our business is today with Sorona. People buy what they like. We all can talk bio, but it comes down to the hand, performance, etc.”

Dan Stalzer, co-owner of the 10-store chain Flooring Gallery in Iowa, noted Sonora has become one of his company’s top go-to products. “The first thing we do is get consumers to touch it,” he said. “It is extremely soft. Second, you can tell the durability story. Then we close with stain resistance. It’s hard for that customer to look at any other fiber. Now we have the corn story,” something that should resonate with his audience.

Mohawk introduced Sorona in the spring of 2005. According to Lape, “Dealer acceptance in placement and samples has been fantastic. We all know there can be service issues getting a product out of the gate, but we did not experience this.” He added Sorona can account for a quarter of Mohawk’s business with certain key retailers.

Lorberbaum noted Smart-Strand fiber with DuPont Sorona renewably sourced polymer is being phased into Mohawk production, and all products in the line will be bio-based by the fall. The decision to go this route stems from research that reveals consumer preference for sustainability in addition to recycling.

“Mohawk has made great strides in recycling and waste reduction,” he said. “At the same time, sustainable is the next generation provided we have the performance without compromise. This is taking it to the next level—raw material and oil avoidance. And we’re using it to make a breakthrough product for our industry.”

Chad Holliday, chairman and CEO of DuPont, agreed. “This is solid science and making a difference,” he said. “We’ve seen that you have to bring out functionality in the products, not just green. Providing more to the consumer is the challenge.”

Holliday noted that early returns are favorable, to say the least. He said of the 85 batches of Sorona that have been produced, there has been 100% perfect quality. “Every batch has been on spec. That is unheard of in my 35 years of startups.”

As for the specifics of the program, corn kernels will be shipped to the Loudon facility and then broken into components. The starch is then refined to produce corn sugar or glucose. Holliday said the corn will come locally, “but the Midwest is also a candidate.”

Lorberbaum expects the alliance between DuPont and Mohawk will increasingly provide strong environmental leadership along with developing products that the consumer will purchase and the dealer will be glad to sell. “DuPont has been a tremendous partner for us in this project,” he said. “Everyone in the flooring business understands what DuPont innovations have meant to our industry.”

DuPont selected Tate & Lyle to be its development partner to commercialize Bio-PDO due to use of innovative technology to transform corn, wheat and sugar into value-added ingredients.

For more information on Mohawk’s SmartStrand fiber with DuPont Sorona renewably sourced polymer, log on to www.mohawk-today.com or www.sorona.dupont.com.