Shaw Celebrates 10 Years of EcoWorx
06.09.2009
Dalton, Georgia β Shaw Industries is celebrating the 10th anniversary of EcoWorx, the company's first fully recyclable commercial carpet backing system β and the world's first Cradle to Cradle certified flooring product. Launched at NeoCon in 1999, EcoWorx received that year's Best of NeoCon Most Innovative Product award for its groundbreaking approach to sustainable product design.
The innovative, environmentally responsible design of EcoWorx also earned it the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Presidential Green Chemistry Award in 2005, making Shaw the only flooring manufacturer to have received such a distinction. In 2007, EcoWorx also became the first flooring product in the world to receive MBDC Cradle to Cradle certification.
"EcoWorx was designed and launched in response to a clear need within our market for an environmentally responsible, genuinely recyclable alternative to traditional PVC-backed tile," said Tim Baucom, Shaw Vice President of Commercial Sales and Marketing. "Demand for EcoWorx as a PVC alternative escalated so rapidly that by 2004, Shaw exited production of PVC-backed product entirely."
Based on the continued and significant growth in demand for such an environmentally sustainable backing, Shaw also expanded the EcoWorx technology into the company's broadloom products in 2007, making EcoWorx tile, Broadloom and Performance Broadloom Shaw's core commercial backing system. "Expanding the EcoWorx technology into our broadloom products was an important step in continuing to meet customer demand by providing them with Cradle to Cradle options for all their commercial carpet needs," Baucom said, "and further, providing many EcoWorx products which are 3rd party certified under the NSF/ANSI 140 Carpet Sustainability™Assessment Standard."
According to Shaw Director of Commercial Manufacturing Jeff Galloway, the original objective with EcoWorx was to create a carpet tile backing that was green by design, offering better performance and quality than traditional PVC-backed tile at no premium.
"As a result, we developed a product that has generated substantial savings in both materials and energy," he said. "For example, EcoWorx uses approximately 30 percent less embodied energy than traditional PVC-backed tile, requires fewer raw materials to produce, and is lighter to transport β an attribute that saves more than 769,000 gallons of gasoline per year."
"EcoWorx is an outstanding example of Shaw's commitment to Sustainability™Through Innovation and the Shaw Green Edge," added Rick Ramirez, Shaw Vice President of Sustainability™and Environmental Affairs. "The product has certainly served as a springboard from which we have expanded our sustainability commitment across all aspects of our business, from product innovation and design to our operations, systems and processes."
The product is backed by a global Environmental Guarantee that pledges Shaw will collect and recycle EcoWorx back into new EcoWorx at the end of its useful life at no charge to customer. The first and only one of its kind in the industry, the guarantee is an important means of assuring customers that Shaw is committed to taking responsibility for the product at the end of its useful life.
"Making sure we provide customers with an easy, convenient and cost-effective means of recycling EcoWorx once they no longer need it is critical to its Cradle to Cradle design," Ramirez said. "The Environmental Guarantee helps us give customers and end-users the additional peace of mind that comes with knowing not only is the product they've selected one of the most environmentally responsible options on the market today; they don't have to worry about what will happen to it at the end of its life."
Shaw recycles EcoWorx at its Cartersville, Georgia facility, where it is manufactured back into new EcoWorx. The EcoWorx recycled content, currently at 40 percent, will continue to increase as more EcoWorx is returned and recycled.
EcoWorx backing is available on commercial products through Shaw Contract Group and The New Patcraft & Designweave. Several million square yards of EcoWorx are currently installed in offices, education and healthcare facilities and commercial buildings worldwide.
About Cradle to Cradle
Cradle to Cradle design eliminates the concept of waste while drastically reducing the use of virgin raw materials and preventing resources from entering landfills. In Shaw's Cradle to Cradle system, EcoWorx carpet backing and Eco Solution Q fiber are separated, broken down and recycled in a closed loop process, returning those materials back into their original state as backing and fiber that are virtually indistinguishable from virgin products.
The Shaw Green Edge
Sustainability™through InnovationTM That's the Shaw Green Edge®. It's our commitment to create the most beautiful β and sustainable β flooring in the world. And to help create a better planet for our customers, our people and our communities in the process.
Rooted in our drive to continuously improve every aspect of our business, the Shaw Green Edge® guides everything we do, every day β from maintaining the highest ethical standards to safeguarding the health and well-being of our people and our communities, to conserving energy and water and recycling raw materials, to designing cradle to cradle products that can be remanufactured over and over again.
Because setting the standard for environmental excellence, social responsibility and product design is more than our responsibility. It's also good business. And it's our legacy.
About Shaw Industries
Shaw Industries Group, Inc., a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., is the world's largest carpet manufacturer and a leading floor covering provider with more than $5 billion in annual sales and approximately 30,000 associates. Headquartered in Dalton, Ga., the company manufactures and distributes carpeting, rugs, hardwood, laminate and ceramic tile for residential and commercial product applications worldwide. A recognized leader in environmental stewardship, Shaw has implemented hundreds of sustainability initiatives and cradle to cradle design solutions collectively termed the Shaw Green Edge.
