Sustainability

Environmental, Economic and Social Responsibility

Sustainability Code of Conduct

The carpet industry creates products and services that make life better for people — both today and tomorrow.  The benefits of our industry are accompanied by enduring commitments to a sustainable industry.  We will make continuous progress toward the aspirational goal of no accidents, injuries or harm to the environment and will publicly report our health, safety and environmental performance through the CRI Sustainability Report.  We will lead our companies in ethical ways that increasingly benefit society, the economy and the environment.

Much Progress Has Been Made in Five Years

The 2008 Sustainability Report (PDF 635 KB) Need Help with PDF? tells the story of the carpet industry's progress and contributions in three areas: environment, economics, and social responsibility. Our industry agrees with the definition that "sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the needs of the future." With conservation in mind, the report is featured exclusively online, and is designed so the information most pertinent to you can be downloaded easily. The following are some highlights of the report.

Environmental Legacy

Information was collected from 83 production facilities demonstrating how the carpet industry is reducing its environmental footprint:

• Significant reductions in green-house gas emissions and other air pollutants
• Water consumption reduced by 30 percent
• Reduced energy consumption
• Reduce reliance on "dirty fuels" and much greater use of renewable energy sources
• Large increase in use of post consumer waste materials in carpet production

Economic Strength

• The carpet industry is the largest manufacturing industry in Georgia, employing more than 70,000 workers nationwide, with an annual payroll of more than $4 billion.
• Annual carpet mill sales exceed $14 billion and represent a significant economic impact to Georgia and its various communities.
• The mills have invested more than $400 million to improve sustainability.

Social Responsibility

• The report highlights examples of the carpet industry's charitable giving, charitable work, workforce development and workplace safety.

» Download PDF of CRI 2008 Sustainability Reports (PDF 635 KB) Need Help with PDF?

Environmental responsibility

There is no question that the manufacture of carpet is an intensive industry process, requiring substantial consumption of water and energy. There's also no question that the disposal of post-consumer carpet has been of increasing environmental concern. That's why it is so important for CRI and its members to have a proven commitment to doing what's right for the environment.

Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE)

We are proud to be an active participant in CARE.  This ground-breaking cooperative, industry-government initiative works to develop market-based solutions for the recycling and reuse of post-consumer carpet.

Turning carpet into new products

The carpet industry is concerned about the amount of old carpet that ends up in landfills each year. Carpet manufacturers are voluntarily addressing this problem by recycling old carpet materials back into carpet production, recycling old carpet into alternative products such as building materials and auto parts, refurbishing old carpet into new carpet tiles, and even reclaiming old carpet so it can be reused or recycled.

Industrial waste: Although more efficient manufacturing is reducing excess carpet waste, such as selvedges, trimmings and shearings, the industry has found creative uses for carpet by-products, such as carpet trim and yarn scraps, to avoid the use of local landfills. The following are some examples of how CRI members are recycling their carpet products:

• Fiber and yarn that cannot be reused in manufacturing are recovered for use in other products.
• Excess carpet is cut into rugs and mats and sold for other uses.
• Waste carpet trimmings, backing and yarn often are sold to recycling plants to be processed into such items as carpet cushion, furniture battings and cushions, reinforcing filler for concrete, fence posts, road underlayment, plastic lumber and automotive parts.
• Polyethylene packaging, used to wrap carpet yarn spools and other raw materials, is recycled into plastic pellets to be sold to extruders of film, plastic wrap or plastic trash bags, or it is used in molded items.
• Other materials used in the manufacturing process, such as cardboard, paper, aluminum, wooden pallets, yarn cones, roll cores, liquid containers, raw material packaging and scrap metal, are either reused or recycled.

Postconsumer carpet: Because collecting, sorting and transporting used carpet is such a huge challenge, the tasks are being addressed by carpet and fiber companies and individual entrepreneurs. Several companies have collection sites in place and are developing the means to separate carpet components and recover polymers. The industry is working toward recycling fiber back into fiber and turning Nylon 6 into new fiber. Some companies are refurbishing used carpet modules. Currently, billions of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic beverage bottles each year are used to make polyester carpet fibers.

To address the challenges of postconsumer recycling, CRI has a committee of member representatives to rally industry expertise and resources. The committee's work includes developing an identification system of carpet materials to make the sorting of fiber and backing compounds much easier and more efficient in the future. Many of the CRI member companies as well as many entrepreneurs around the country are currently using this identification system, called the Carpet Component Identification Code (CCIC).

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