Sustainable manufacturing advocate InterfaceFLOR has unveiled progress made towards its ambitious Mission Zero targets.
Yesterday (November 9) Interface Inc has announced that, as part of its Mission Zero commitment to eliminate negative environmental impact by 2020, the company pledges to obtain third-party validated environmental product declarations (EPDs) on all InterfaceFLOR products globally by 2012.
The leading commercial flooring manufacturer held a global web seminar yesterday to share the major milestones already achieved for Mission Zero and to announce that it will not be easing the pressure it is putting on itself to revelutionise manufacturing and business with its approach to end-to-end sustainability.
InterfaceFLOR’s radical environmental and sustainability targets were first laid out 16 years ago when the company founder and chairman Ray Anderson orchestrated a turn-around in the traditionally oil-driven organisational approach and strategy. The company now follows a rigorous and well structured continuous improvement regime with key KPIs and performance targets for environmental excellence with competitive power.
Dan Hendrix, president and CEO of Interface used yesterday’s conference to call for action from all companies, large and small, to follow the Interface example on sustainability and in particular on their decision to implement EDPs: “Environmental Product Declarations require full transparency, create new standards of accountability, and will ultimately spur new levels of innovation as customers begin to understand the impacts of their purchasing decisions and demand more from business and industry.”
Interface founder and chairman Ray Anderson said, “Our EPDs will be based on the most rigorous, third-party verified life cycle assessments (LCAs) used anywhere on Earth, measuring and disclosing environmental impacts throughout our supply chain, from well-head and mine to end of life reclamation and recycling.”
Anderson added, “We are taking stock of our achievements and an honest look at the challenges ahead. This we know: openness, honesty, and collaboration are key to environmental progress – not only for Interface but for any business. We are calling on our fellow industrialists everywhere to make the same commitment to transparency and to the business model: ‘doing well by doing good,’ a better way to a bigger, more honest and authentic profit.”
TM readers can hear more about the practicalities behind and business case for Interface’s approach to industry and innovation at The Manufacturer Director’s Conference on November 18 where senior VP product and innovation, Nigel Stansfield will be speaking.
