Mannington Recognized for Environmental Strides

Salem, NJ, November 29--New methods Mannington Mills is using to manufacture its commercial and residential flooring are generating a stir, according to Today’s Sunbeam. This year, the company has received several environmental awards for using a water-based ink with less pollutants to create the diverse patterns that decorate its flooring. The move has helped the 89-year-old, family-owned operation trim back its emissions into the atmosphere, create a healthier work environment -- even save costs, according to the company. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection presented Mannington Mills with its Environmental Excellence Award for clean air earlier this month. The National Pollution Prevention Roundtable gave the company its Most Valuable Pollution Prevention award in September. The two awards are displayed in a glass case in the lobby of the 450-acre site's administration building here. "Nobody made us do this," said Dave Kitts, corporate director for safety and environmental initiatives. "We're working hard to do the right thing." The upgrades center around the company's building-sized printing press that takes 12-foot-wide sheets of flooring and decks them with hundreds of different designs. The giant rolls that paint on each design take up an entire warehouse by themselves. Mannington went from using a solvent-based ink on the press to a water-based ink around 1995. Used industry wide, solvent-based ink created air emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and posed fire and health risks for the eight employees that typically work the press. Additional solvents were needed to clean off the ink, generating hazardous waste. By switching to a water-based ink, the company cut its VOC emissions by almost 90 percent and could use plain water or alcohol to clean the ink. The fire risk and odors from the ink were reduced. It was a big change, but what grabbed the attention of NJDEP and others is what came next, according to company representatives. While the new inks were lower in VOC content, the company still needed two massive thermal oxidizers, each as big as a house, to vent out and destroy the remaining pollutants. The noisy machines emit several vehicles' worth of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and other emissions and require large quantities of electricity and natural gas to run. Beginning in 2001, scientists working on behalf of the company and its vendors managed to bring the VOC levels in its ink to 70 percent lower than required by regulatory agencies. That meant Mannington Mills, with NJDEP's blessing in December 2003, could operate its printing lines minus the thermal oxidizers, cutting down on pollutants and saving the company on energy and maintenance costs. While VOC emissions could increase because the machines are no longer destroying them, the 80 percent cut in carbon monoxide and other emissions (representing thousands of tons annually) is worth it, according to Robert Hunt, environmental manager. "We cut more tons of pollutants than added," he said. An added bonus is that the new ink actually stores better and cuts down on production defects, according to company officials. While agencies like NJDEP are calling Mannington Mills an "environmental leader," other companies in the flooring business could follow suit in the near future. "I think other companies could work with the same vendors to develop similar techniques," said Hunt.