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.
Sustainable Textile Standard© Benefits
• 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
Textile Standard Benefits Continued…
• 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
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©
Meeting Other MTS Standards…
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.
Carpet Meeting Other MTS
Sustainable Product Standards…
Publicly Available ISO
14040 Compliant
LCAs:
Antron Fiber
Collins & Aikman Carpet
Interface Carpet
J&J / Invision Carpet
Milliken Carpet
Mohawk Carpet
Shaw 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
Innovative Carpet Products
Shaw EcoWorx Backing
Tandus Ethos Backing
A Product Example Meeting
Standards
Reuse/Renewal of old carpet tiles by
Milliken process yields new products
labeled:
Earth Square:
Certified Gold Sustainable Textile
•
•
•
•
•
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
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
Cost effective
Reuse/Renewing
saves:
Bottom-line, reduced first cost
Applicable to most carpet tiles
Carpet tiles can be reused/
renewed multiple times
Additional choices for carpet
• Choose recycled
carpet
– Evaluate postindustrial and postconsumer 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.
Sustainable Products and Processes:
Maximize Extended Product Responsibility
Designers
Manufacturers
Distributors / Installers
End User / Maintainer
Re-user
Reuse examples:
Harvard University
King County,
Seattle
The Donald Bren School of
Environmental Science & Management
Collaborations required
individuals
corporations
government
organizations
community
For More Information
• www.milliken.com
• www.moea.state.mn.us/
• www.mts.sustainableproducts/standards
• www.usgbc.org/leed
Thanks to our Sponsors