Interface Looking at Metrics of Sustainability

Atlanta, GA, March 23, 2010--Interface Inc. is launching a yearlong look at its EcoMetrics, assessing progress and creating a vision for what success looks like as it pursues its goal of eliminating its environmental footprint by 2020.

First up is the release of the company’s most recent waste reduction and re-materialization metrics.

“We’re 10 years out from making business history, a vision that no one would have imagined for this little carpet company of ours,” said CEO Dan Hendrix.

“More importantly, we have nearly 16 years of data to use in understanding our progress and evaluating where we need investment, where we need innovation, and where we’ll be focusing people and resources as we look to 2020 and beyond.”

Interface wants to eliminate all forms of financial and process waste, everything from the cost of order errors to landfilled scrap. Closely related is its desire to close the loop, or redesign of processes and products to close the technical loop using recovered and bio-based raw materials.

Of the over 400 million pounds of raw materials Interface purchased in 2009, 3.4 million pounds of waste (less than 1%) went to landfills, compared to 15 million pounds in 1996; a 77 percent reduction; 6.9 million pounds of raw material were recycled to be re-used again; and 9.6 million pounds of waste was sent to energy recovery as a use of last resort.

Continued savings from the QUEST program, the employee-driven “Quality Utilizing Employee Suggestions and Teamwork” initiative that rewards employees who identify and then reduce all forms of waste, has netted the company $433 million in cumulative, avoided costs since 1995.

CEO Dan Hendrix said, “What the March to 2020 requires is that we act even more like a global company, rapidly replicating the successes we have in one market to every market, when that is the right thing to do in terms of sustainability and the local business.”

Interface will release additional metrics in the coming months, culminating with a Sustainability Report to be published later this year that will detail the company’s plan to get to 2020.