Belfast, Northern Ireland, July 18, 2006--InterfaceFLOR Europe, part of Interface Inc, scored 91.3% at the eighth ARENA Network Survey of Environmental Management in Northern Ireland, putting them in the top 20% of companies in the region and a long way ahead of the 67% industry average.
The award, presented at Belfast City Hall, was given to Craigavon-based Interface for its continued efforts to reduce its impact on the environment.
The survey, managed by Business in the Community’s ARENA Network campaign, assesses the leading 200 companies, 26 local authorities, 19 Health and Social Service Trusts and the five Education & Library Boards. It provides a representative picture of how well environmental issues are being dealt with by organizations in Northern Ireland.
The survey is supported by Belfast City Council, Environment & Heritage Service, Invest NI and First Trust Bank and ranks participants in one of five quintiles according to their performance.
Following a sturdy consultation process, the textiles and clothing sector scored an average of 86%, up 3% on its performance last year and overtaking the engineering sector which led the way in 2004. This suggests that those companies which have survived within the textiles sector, excel in their processes and all aspects of their business.
Steve Martin, unit director at Interface Europe, Craigavon, says: “We are always looking at ways in which we can reduce our business’ impact on the environment. The challenge we face is to continually find smarter, more eco-literate ways to be profitable. For us, sustainable business is good business.”
Notable achievements by Interface include its energy efficiency and renewable energy programmes, which have resulted in a 56% reduction in CO2 emissions since 1996. Interface has also made improvements to its production processes allowing an 81% reduction in water intake per m2 of production facilities, petroleum based materials have been reduced by 29% and since 1995 cumulative avoided costs from waste reduction have totalled $299m.
Interface has also worked closely with Climate Care, a not-for-profit organization that funds projects designed to reduce or reverse the impact of CO2 emissions, allowing Interface Europe to launch the industry’s first climate neutral carpet--Cool Carpet. Since its launch in January 2005, more than 17,000 tons of carbon have been offset, the equivalent to 4,250 cars being taken off the road for a year.
