Sustainable Carpets

Sponsored by:

Sustainable Textile Standard©:Applicable to Carpet and Beyond

The Institute for Market Transformation to

Sustainability (MTS) worked for three years

with the textile, design & government

communities, producing a Consensus

Sustainable Textile Standard© for carpet,

fabric & apparel.

• Substantial Global Benefits for Carpet, Fabric & Apparel - Environmental, Social, & Economic

• Textile Rating System: Certified, Silver, Gold & Platinum Sustainable Textile

• Multiple Environmental, Social, & Economic Benefits over the supply chain

• Business Benefits: cost savings, product differentiation, long term customer relationships, liability reduction, public accountability, employee and shareholder good will

Sustainable Textile Standard© Benefits

• Market Definition of Sustainable Textile

• Life Cycle Environmental Performance Requirements for Sustainable Textile

• Social Performance Requirements for Sustainable Textile over the supply chain

• Defines Sustainable Agriculture for Textile

• Available at: http://mts.sustainableproducts.com/standards.htm

Textile Standard Benefits Continued…

Sustainable Choices

Reasons to choose carpet

– Reduces indoor air contaminants; specify low-VOC carpet products and systems

– Low-VOC carpet supports attaining LEED certification

– Choose textiles that meet MTS Sustainable Textile Standard©

ISO compliant Life Cycle Assessments (LCA). LCA identifies multiple product environmental benefits/impacts throughout the supply chain. Product LCAs are required by law for sustainable, green, or environmentally preferable products, because consumers view these products as environmentally beneficially in all respects.

Meeting Other MTS Standards…

Carpet Meeting Other MTS Sustainable Product Standards…

Publicly Available ISO 14040 Compliant LCAs:

Antron FiberCollins & Aikman CarpetInterface CarpetJ&J / Invision CarpetMilliken CarpetMohawk CarpetShaw Carpet

Carpet Meeting Other MTS Sustainable Product Standards…

Carpet & Rug Institute Green Label Plus in US Green Building Council LEED Rating System

Incorporates California 1350 air quality criteria & meets LEED Credit

Shaw EcoWorx Backing

Tandus Ethos Backing

Innovative Carpet Products

A Product Example Meeting Standards

Reuse/Renewal of old carpet tiles by Milliken process yields new products labeled:

• For 99 +% post-consumer recycled content• For extended product Life• For 100% take-back/reclamation• For transparent closed loop renewal process• For achieving social equity

Earth Square: Certified Gold Sustainable Textile

EPA Waste Management Hierarchy

Reuse• Carpet can be made of

recycled materials, i.e. PET bottles, carpet scraps

• Reused carpet can itself be recycled

• Recycling process takes up to 34 steps, whereas Reuse takes three steps

• No escalating landfill costs & diverts waste from landfill

• Sign of good product stewardship

Reuse/Renewing saves:

Bottom-line, reduced first cost

Applicable to most carpet tiles

Carpet tiles can be reused/ renewed multiple times

Cost effective

Additional choices for carpet• Choose recycled

carpet– Evaluate post-

industrial and post-consumer recycled content

– Supports attaining 1 LEED Materials point

• MTS standard defines recycled content as:

The amount of material by weight "collected, separated or otherwise recovered from the solid waste stream for use in the form of raw materials, in the manufacture or assembly of a new package or product” (16 C.F.R. § 260.7 (d)) excluding materials that serve as fillers or binding agents.

Designers

Manufacturers

Distributors / Installers

End User / Maintainer

Re-user

Sustainable Products and Processes:Maximize Extended Product Responsibility

Reuse examples:

Harvard University

King County, Seattle

The Donald Bren School of Environmental Science & Management

individuals

organizations

communitygovernment

corporations

Collaborations required

For More Information

• www.milliken.com

• www.moea.state.mn.us/

• www.mts.sustainableproducts/standards

• www.usgbc.org/leed

Thanks to our Sponsors