Interface

Sector: Corporate

Carbon Footprint:

> 69,088 metric tonnes CO₂e (2006)

TARGETS

> Interface’s commitment to sustainability is stated in its Mission Zero: to eliminate any negative impact the company may have on the environment by the year 2020.

Achievements

> 45% reduction in energy usage per unit of carpet manufactured from 1996 levels.
> 60% absolute reduction in greenhouse emissions against a baseline of 1996.
> 16% of Interface’s global energy consumption comes from renewable sources.
> Since 1996 Interface has saved over $330 million in cumulative costs due to its QUEST waste reduction programme.

Benefits

> Evident, but not easily quantified given the company’s integrated approach to sustainability.
> Since 1996, costs avoided from waste elimination activities have totalled US$336 million and waste to landfill has been reduced by 65%.
> Globally recognised leader in sustainability.

Low Carbon Solutions

Background

In 1973, Interface’s Founder and Chairman, Ray Anderson revolutionised the commercial floor covering industry by producing America’s first free-lay carpet tiles. Today, Interface is the world leader in the design, production and sales of modular carpet, with a global market share of the specified carpet tile segment of approximately 35%. Interface is also a leading producer of broadloom carpet and commercial fabrics. As a global company with a reputation for high quality, reliability and sustainability, Interface markets products in over 100 countries under established brand names such as Interface FLOR, FLOR Bentley Prince Street, and Terratex fabric.

Action on climate change at Interface has always received top-level support. In fact it was Anderson himself that initiated the company’s environmental mandate in 1994 when he gave Interface a new vision - to be “the first company that, by its deeds, shows the entire industrial world what sustainability is in all its dimensions: people, process, product, place and profits – by 2020 – and in doing so, to become restorative through the power of influence.” Articulated through its Mission Zero promise, Interface is focusing on reducing greenhouse gas emissions at all levels of the company, in the manufacturing process, in its products and through employee engagement programmes.

Interface has been seeking out energy savings for a decade, achieving impressive reductions. But there is still a belief within the company that there are more savings to be made.
Since 1994, Interface has been working to reduce energy usage to an absolute minimum. Energy efficiency drives have been implemented since 1996 throughout manufacturing plants and to 2005 these resulted in a 36% reduction in total energy usage per square metre of manufactured carpet. The Energy Mirror project, installed in 2002 at the company’s Scherpenzeel facility in Holland, tracks energy consumption at the facility 24 hours a day, providing up-to-the-minute data. The installation has improved awareness of opportunities for conservation and cost savings amongst employees, eliminated excess ventilation and identified a need for “stand-by” options on electronic office equipment. The company’s European headquarters at Shelf Mills, UK, has joined the Yorkshire Carbon Management Club to find additional energy savings through metering.
Another facility, in Elkin, North Carolina, US, was retrofitted with a high efficiency HVAC system. The system has reduced energy consumption by an estimated 307,000 KWh per month, equivalent to the combustion of 40 tonnes of coal per month by the local electrical company.

Interface developed seven strategic platforms (Fronts) on which to focus its sustainability efforts. Each of the seven fronts has a chair and a support team responsible for work relating to it and, at the business level, certain staff have responsibility for leading strategic sustainability programmes. Three of these: the reduction of emissions (FRONT 2); the commitment to renewable energy (FRONT 3); and to an extent the elimination of waste (FRONT 1) are directly related to climate change mitigation.

Understanding that progress cannot be made without sharing of ideas, commitment of staff and a shared vision, Interface convened a Global Sustainability Council (GSC), chaired by Neel Bradham, Vice President of Business Development for Interface, Inc.  The Council is comprised of representatives from Interface’s global businesses who convene to share best practices, discuss challenges and provide guidance to the company.  The GSC determines the strategic focus and critical sustainability challenges that must be solved to reach its Mission Zero goals.

In order to be able to assess progress in these key strategic areas, Interface developed a series of measurements called EcoMetrics to chart its progress. EcoMetrics measures how much Interface uses in raw materials and energy and what comes out in terms of products and waste. All global facilities participate in the EcoMetrics programme. Annual progress on key areas of sustainability such as renewable energy, emissions reduction and waste are reported publicly on Interface’s sustainability website.

Interface states that offsets are part of an overall climate approach, but the main emphasis is focused on making reductions first. The company acknowledges that as a company, there are emissions that are a challenge to reduce initially, and therefore offsets can play a role in helping to neutralise emissions from a product or employee impact, while it educates these constituencies to reduce their emissions.
The company has developed Cool Carpet, a service that allows consumers to purchase a carbon neutral product and thus offset the related life-cycle emissions. Once the emissions from raw materials, manufacture, transport and use have been measured, and Interface’s continuing reductions of its carbon emissions are factored in, the company partners with organisations to invest in projects that will prevent an equal amount of emissions from being released into the atmosphere. Interface works with an independent third party to ensure that they have made correct calculations, purchased credible offsets and balanced out their impacts. More than 15 million square yards of Cool Carpet have so far been sold, with more than 250,000 tonnes of carbon offset credits purchased to balance the life cycle emissions of those products worldwide.
Interface also uses offsetting to counteract the emissions of business-related activities that are not easily unavoidable or from employee impacts. For example, since 1997, the company’s Trees for Travel programme has offset all business related air travel. Interface has sponsored the planting of over 62,000 trees in various locations throughout Central and North America, offsetting over 24,000 tonnes of CO₂. Cool Fuel is a scheme through which Interface offsets the emissions related to fuel consumed by company cars. Since 2002, the company’s fuel suppliers have provided rebates on Interface fuel purchases which Interface has then purchased in certified emission reduction credits. Interface associates have purchased more than 406,000 gallons of fuel with their Cool Fuel cards, resulting in purchased offsets for over 4,600 tonnes of CO₂. Cool Co2mmute is a global staff programme, allowing employees to calculate and offset the CO₂ associated with commuting to and from work. Interface shares half of the costs, leaving employees with about $12.00 per year to pay to offset an average annual commute.

16% of Interface’s global energy comes from renewable sources. Seven of its facilities operate with 100% renewable electricity coming from certified renewable energy credits from solar, wind and biomass projects. Some company facilities also generate a proportion of their own renewable electricity, including solar arrays located at the Bentley Prince Street facility - City of Industry, California, US; the Interface Flooring Systems facility; Troup County, Georgia, US; and the Scherpenzeel facility in The Netherlands. Interface is also looking at ways to continue to develop on-site renewable energy solutions and partner with other companies seeking similar solutions through innovative financing and partnership models.

In addition to using on-site renewable energy, Interface is also building the market for renewable energy, especially where there are barriers to local renewable energy projects. Interface Fabric in Maine, US, had an innovative answer to a lack of local renewable energy options. Faced with the prospect of buying renewable energy credits from national wind projects only, Interface Fabric partnered with their supplier of wind to establish a pool of funding, matched with contributions from Bonneville Environmental Foundation, to fund renewable energy projects to be developed in Maine.

Interface is a member of the WRI’s Green Power Market Development Group both in the US and the collaborative effort with The Climate Group in Europe. The group is dedicated to building green power markets with the ultimate goal of developing corporate markets for 1000 MW of new, cost competitive green power by 2010. It is hoped that by working in partnership, green power procurement will be easier and more effective.

The first Front within Interface’s 2020 vision is to eliminate waste. In 1995, Interface established a global initiative called QUEST, Quality Using Employee Suggestions and Teamwork, to ensure that all processes took waste reduction into account. QUEST follows three principles: identifying every possible waste stream; developing methods to eliminate this waste and then; measuring the savings. The elimination of waste extends past production procedures to consider the entire supply chain. Interface requests that all suppliers minimise their packaging and, where possible, the company reclaims packaging from customers for onsite recycling. Where waste cannot be avoided, Interface will look to find other uses for it, either within existing internal processes, or by recycling it for re-use by other organisations. Since 1996, costs avoided from waste elimination activities have totalled US$336 million and waste to landfill has been reduced by 65%.