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InterfaceFLOR Posts Global Environmental Progress With 2004 EcoMetrics

30 June 2005, United States
InterfaceFLOR Posts Global Environmental Progress With 2004 EcoMetrics Report Progress Seen on Reducing Emissions and Reclaiming Carpet for Recycling.

Interface, Inc. has announced its latest global EcoMetrics showing progress the company is making toward its ultimate goal of zero footprint on the environment. Among the most notable results, the company’s global greenhouse gas emissions are now down by 52% from the baseline year of 1995, and carpet reclamation efforts are up 35% year-over-year. The company’s results, representing end-of-year 2004 data, are now posted on http://www.interfaceglobal.com/Sustainability.aspx.

InterfaceFLOR began its mission to become a more sustainable business in 1994 and has since tracked data in areas including waste reduction, energy consumption, use of renewable electricity, greenhouse gas emissions, water intake, product reclamation, safety performance and social sustainability. The company has made significant progress in 11 years but continues to explore technology and innovations that will bring about the goal of zero footprint.

“With absolute greenhouse gas emissions down significantly and reclamation on the rise, we are further closing that technical loop,” said Ray Anderson, founder and chairman of Interface, Inc. “While we continue to make progress toward the goal each year, we see the challenges ahead. Those challenges drive us to work harder to find innovations that will raise the bar for ourselves, our industry, and the industrial world at large.”

The company has been able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through a range of energy efficiency programs and offset projects. Increased use of renewable electricity is another contributing factor to reduced emissions. In fact, in 2001, InterfaceFLOR committed to the Pew Center on Global Climate Change to reduce non-renewable electricity use per unit of production by 15% and increase the use of renewable electricity to 10% of total energy by the end of 2005. As of year-end 2004, InterfaceFLOR had exceeded those goals, with non-renewable electricity use down 27% and renewable electricity as percent of total energy at 11%.

InterfaceFLOR has made strong commitments to renewable electricity globally. The company’s two carpet manufacturing facilities in the United Kingdom set the standard with use of 100% green electricity. In the U.S., at the company’s Bentley Prince Street facility in California, more than 20% of the electrical requirements are filled through renewable electricity sources available through the grid. These sources, combined with the facility’s on-site photovoltaic array and purchased renewable electricity certificates, have enabled Bentley Prince Street to make 100% of its electricity renewable.

Another area showing improvement is the company’s carpet reclamation program, ReEntry®. Through ReEntry®, InterfaceFLOR reclaims carpet from customers when it is no longer needed, and diverts it from landfills. In 2004 alone, more than 17 million pounds of carpet were diverted via options including recycling (60%), energy capture and conversion (37%) and repurposing the carpet via charitable donation (3%). In total since 1995, more than 66 million pounds of carpet have been reclaimed.

In 2004 the company was also recognized by a number of third-party sources for its progress, including:

• Green Power Leadership Award from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Department of Energy and the Center for Resource Solutions, recognizing green power purchases.
• Climate Protection Award from U.S. EPA, recognizing the company’s climate neutral products and programs.
• Bentley Prince Street was recognized as the first Climate Action Leader™ of 2004 by the California Climate Action Registry™ for publicly reporting its greenhouse gas emissions and having them third party certified.
• Interface’s Atlanta showroom was the first project to achieve Platinum certification, from the U.S. Green Building Council in its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Commercial Interiors (LEED-CI) program—awarded for environmentally responsible building methods and finishes.

Atlanta-based Interface, Inc. (NASDAQ: IFSIA), is a global leader in the manufacture of environmentally-responsible floorcoverings and other textiles in the U.S., Asia-Pacific and Europe through subsidiaries and divisions such as Bentley Prince Street, Interface Fabrics, Interface Flooring Systems InterfaceFLOR and the Prince Street House & Home Collection™. The company is committed to giving the marketplace a wide range of choices for specifying Earth-friendly and Environmentally Preferable Product-certified products, with the industry’s first climate neutral carpet, Cool Carpet®, as well as the only carpet product to be designed using biomimicry, the i2 collection from Interface Flooring Systems. The company also offers a residential carpet product made by InterfaceFLOR created from a rapidly-renewable, corn-based polymer.

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