Shaw Inc.
(www.shawfloors.com)
Back in December of 2003, Shaw Inc, the world’s largest carpet manufacturer in the world, based in Dalton Georgia, launched a new environmental policy to change the way in which they design products. This meant finding a new set of materials that could be safely reused and recycled continuously into new products. It also meant moving out of PVC (vinyl) and other materials and chemicals that pose a risk to human health. Their vision below signifies their commitment to change.
Shaw Industries, Inc. recognizes that merely preserving and conserving the natural bounty of the earth will not make us a sustainable corporation. A truly sustainable carpet industry must mimic nature’s organic cycle of life, death, and rebirth. The answer does not lie in limiting growth, but in encouraging the kind of growth that is cradle-to-cradle, returning carpet to carpet endlessly. Toward that end, Shaw has adopted these productive policies and practices.
- Environmental sustainability is our destination and cradle-to-cradle is our path. Our entire corporation and all stakeholders will value and share this vision.
- Through eco-effective technology we will continuously redesign our products, our processes, and our corporation.
- We will take responsibility for all that we do and strive to return our products to technical nutrient cycles that virtually eliminate the concept of waste.
- We will plan for generations, while accepting the urgency of the present. We are committed to the communities where we live and work. Our resources, health, and diversity will not be compromised.
- We look forward to a solar-powered future utilizing the current solar income of the earth, anticipating declining solar costs and rising fossil fuel costs as technology and resource depletion accelerate.
- We will lead our industry in developing and delivering profitable cradle-to-cradle solutions to our free-market economy. Economy, equity, and ecology will be continually optimized.
- Honesty, integrity, and hard work remain our core values. We will continue to deliver unsurpassed safety, quality, beauty, performance, and value to our customers.
Using McDonough Braungart’s Cradle to Cradle Design Protocol, the company not only designs for recyclability, but also prioritizes the use of materials and chemicals that are safer for human health and the environment. To affirm their commitment to their new environmental policy, Shaw launched EcoWorx® Backing, the industry’s first 100% non-PVC backing for carpets (see attributes below). At comparable cost, using the best available technologies and materials for performance and human health, Shaw established a new precedent that will lead others to change.
EcoWorx® Backing
- Recyclable into more EcoWorx® backing
- Thermoplastic compound containing no chlorine to off-gas in a fire and no phthalate plasticizers to migrate into the environment
- Equal to or better than PVC backing in all performance categories
- 40% lighter weight than PVC, lowering transport costs and carbon monoxide emissions
- Extremely low in VOCs (exceeds protocols for Green Label Certification under CRI’s Indoor Air Quality Program), available with a low-VOC releasable adhesive
- Class I fire rated, rating for smoke generation far superior to PVC
- Available on any modular tile or six-foot style with no upcharge, no minimum, and no overage
- Offered with a high-performance Lifetime No-Failure Warranty—100% recyclable into more EcoWorx® backing through granulation and return to the extrusion process
In addition to EcoWorx®, Shaw also used MBDC’s Cradle to Cradle protocol to design Eco Solution Q® fiber—a safer carpet fiber. Combining the two products creates a 100% recyclable carpet that Shaw will pick up free of charge at the end of life and reuse and recycle back into new carpets. As with Herman Miller, one product at a time, they are establishing new design paradigms that not only negate the need for harmful chemicals, but also reduce the need for landfills, and other waste sites.
