Werner Braun: Hats off to Mohawk and Shaw

— If you walk around Mohawk’s Wall Street facility in Calhoun you’ll notice employees walking through the building wearing T-shirts that say “We’re good for nothing ... going to the landfill!”

That’s because the employees at that plant divert 100 percent of the facility’s waste from landfills. They’re the first of Mohawk’s plants to achieve zero waste status, and they’re doing a remarkable job. Needless to say, they’re proud of it.

If you were to visit that plant, you’d notice that their trash cans are virtually empty, that everything that can be recycled or reused is identified, sorted and organized into its proper place.

Many employees bring their lunches in company-provided containers and use their own reusable beverage containers. Recycling bins for bottles and cans are placed conveniently throughout the building for those who bring canned drinks to work.

This is just one example of the lengths our carpet industry is going to in order to be better environmental citizens.

We hear, and talk, a lot about sustainability these days. It’s becoming more and more important for industries to be responsible stewards of our natural resources and to show the public what progress they’re making as an industry to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Recently, both Mohawk and Shaw Industries released their 2011 sustainability reports, and both companies have good reason to feel good about last year’s accomplishments.

Take Shaw, for example. Their report highlights many of the awards they’ve earned for being committed to “Sustainability through Innovation.” Among them are the following:

• CalRecycle Waste Reduction Awards Program (WRAP) Award

• Floor Covering Weekly 2011 GreenStep Pinnacle Award Environmental Leader of the Year — Anderson Floors

• Floor Covering Weekly 2011 GreenStep Pinnacle Award

• Floor Covering Weekly 2011 Pinnacle Award Honoree — Re2E (Reclaim to Energy) facility

• Georgia Department of Labor Commissioner’s Cup Award for workplace safety

• Georgia Trend magazine Best Places to Work 2011

• Best of NeoCon Award 2011 — Shaw Contract Group

Mohawk’s report is equally impressive, and highlights the company’s strong commitment not only to the environment but to employee wellness and charitable giving as well. In 2011, the company:

• Purchased more than three billion discarded PET soda bottles, or about 20 percent of all plastic bottles recycled in the U.S., to create beautiful polyester carpet.

• Initiated the HealthyMohawk wellness program, which resulted in employees losing more than 6,500 pounds.

• Invested more than $3 million in our communities through employee and company contributions to local and national charitable organizations.

• Recycled more than 3 billion pounds of waste stream materials to make quality tile, laminate and soft surface flooring products.

• Reduced water usage by 30 percent, or 1.13 billion gallons, during the last six years.

• Converted more than 24 million pounds of rubber tires into doormats last year alone.

These annual sustainability reports are subject to review by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines, and the submitted data is verified by an independent auditing firm. Both Shaw and Mohawk met the GRI’s requirement for a B+ application level. This is impressive as well, and places both companies among the leaders in transparency of reporting sustainable practices.

Vance Bell, the chairman and CEO of Shaw Industries, touts their commitment to “Sustainability Through Innovation” as guiding “everything we do, every day — from maintaining the health and well-being of our people and communities, conserving energy and water, and recycling raw materials — to designing Cradle-to-Cradle products that can be remanufactured over and over again.”

“Setting the standard for environmental excellence, social responsibility and product design is more than our responsibility,” he says. “It’s also good business.”

Shaw’s report highlights particular successes, like its Evergreen Nylon Recycling facility in Augusta, which is the only Nylon 6 recycling facility of its kind, and which has the capacity to process 100 million pounds of post-consumer carpet.

And its new Re2E project is expected to convert a projected 84 million pounds of carpet each year into 50,000 pounds of steam energy per hour, which will save enough fossil fuel to power the equivalent of about 7,500 homes each year.

Both Shaw and Mohawk executives agree that it’s been heartening to see the commitment of their employees when it comes to sustainability issues.

Larman Self, the facility manager at Mohawk’s Wall Street plant which has achieved zero waste, says the employees have taken the mission of recycling and reusing to heart.

“There is a great deal of energy around this initiative,” he says. “Our employees here have really embraced this program and are very excited about their accomplishments. They are making significant contributions to reducing waste in our community.”

Jeff Lorberbaum, chairman and CEO of Mohawk Industries, believes that investing significantly in Mohawk’s employees, in its products, and in the neighboring communities has added value for the company’s stakeholders and its customers.

“As our company’s sustainable practices evolve, I am inspired by our people’s dedication to reducing our environmental impact by creating innovative products for our customers in more sustainable ways."

Well said. Our hats are off to Mohawk and Shaw for ”going green” and taking sustainability seriously. Letting you know about Carpet and Rug Institute members’ many accomplishments — in sustainable practices and otherwise — is one of my favorite things to do in this column. Look for more in the weeks to come.

Werner Braun is president of the Dalton-based Carpet and Rug Institute.

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Werner Braun: Hats off to Mohawk and Shaw

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