Dalton, GA - Shaw Industries has completed a comprehensive brochure, “Our Journey...Reaching Sustainability,” that is designed to communicate the company’s progress toward its environmental objectives. The information is focused on educating its residential sales force on the diverse processes and programs Shaw has implemented to demonstrate its environmental commitment to employees and customers, as well as the communities in which the company operates. The brochure will also be distributed to Shaw retailers to bring them up to date on the company’s key environmental initiatives and investments.

“Shaw is noted for its leadership, both in the flooring industry and the communities in which we live and work,” says Steve Bradfield, Shaw’s director of environmental ffairs. “Environmental stewardship is a prime example of this leadership, and it is an area in which the company has worked hard to attain a number of significant achievements.”

Conservation

The communication piece begins by noting that “cradle-to-grave” production is the way consumer products are conventionally manufactured: raw materials are taken from the earth, processed, and made into products that eventually wind up in landfills. Tremendous waste is generated in this manner; in fact, carpet accounts for more than 5 billion pounds of waste sent to landfills annually, representing 2% of total landfill volume.

Bradfield points out that the best method today of dealing with this issue is conservation, although conservation only slows the cradle-to-grave process. “Conservation is clearly a useful tool in minimizing waste and preserving resources, but Shaw’s goal for the future is sustainability - cradle-to-cradle production,” he says. “Our ultimate environmental objective is to design and manufacture products that can be safely recycled back into the same Shaw products repeatedly.”

The brochure explains that smaller, measured steps, called “transitional technologies,” provide interim solutions. These include conservation efforts, and they are stepping stones along the path to sustainability. Transitional strategies are achieved through a willingness to invest in healthier, more efficient technologies today and are designed to lead, in time, to cradle-to-cradle solutions.

The centerpiece of Shaw’s transitional technologies is its waste-to-energy (WTE) project at Plant 81 in Dalton, Georgia, which converts carpet and wood waste to steam energy through a process called gasification. The first of its kind in the industry, the facility converts waste to energy that would otherwise come from fossil fuels, sends less solid waste to landfills, and saves over 2.5 million gallons of fuel oil a year in just one of more than sixty manufacturing facilities.

Shaw first with sustainable products

The brochure also notes that Shaw was the first manufacturer in the industry to develop a completely recyclable carpet product. First offered commercially by the company in 1999, EcoWorx® carpet tiles are made of a recylcable backing and EcoSolution Q® nylon, a Type 6 nylon with recycled content. Fiber and backing can be mechanically separated after the product’s useful life. Awarded the 2003 Presidential Green Chemistry Award by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), EcoWorx features an environmental guarantee that ensures nationwide post-consumer collection, at no cost to customers.

Evergreen

The most significant step in Shaw’s cradle-to-cradle production objectives is Evergreen Nylon Recycling, Shaw’s nylon recycling operation in Augusta. The Evergreen plant employs patented technology that converts nylon carpet into caprolactam, the raw material used to make nylon 6. (Nylon 6) is used in such applications as residential and commercial carpet, as well as other products. Shaw’s environmental booklet features an illustration showing the closed-loop, cradle- to-cradle recycling system at the Evergreen plant that will utilize post-consumer carpets. The process will allow nylon fibers to be recycled over and over again without the loss of any aesthetic or performance properties.

Evergreen will be part of a system of post-consumer carpet collection that is already underway. The collection system is expected to collect as much as 300 million pounds of carpet waste of all types annually. Evergreen is expected to convert 100 million pounds of carpet waste into 30 million pounds of caprolactam. Other Shaw initiatives for recycling backing materials and utilizing carpet in waste-to-energy gasification will benefit from the collection system as well.

The company is identifying its Nylon 6 (N6) carpets with labeling that designates their recyclable capability. Labels on samples will feature information that identifies the style’s fiber as Nylon 6, and every roll will be labeled on the back for identification after its useful life.

“We believe this brochure clearly demonstrates Shaw’s leadership in both innovative and practical solutions to environmental issues,” says Scott Sandlin, Shaw’s vice president of residential marketing. “We are committed to leading environmental initiatives that truly make a difference and help our customers.”