SUSTAINABILITY
WHY SET YOURSELF an impossible challenge ? For a company that sells $ 1 billion worth of carpet tiles a year , total elimination of its environmental impact by 2020 is surely beyond the realms of possibility .
Industrial manufacturing processes , heavy use of raw materials and layers of supply chain that are not always possible to influence make it difficult to comprehend how Mission Zero can be achieved .
But this is exactly the point for Interface . What are the realms of possibility , and how close to zero impact can be achieved ? In 1994 the company ’ s founder Ray Anderson signalled a sea change in corporate attitude towards sustainability . Legal compliance , although important , was no longer enough .
“ Ray was inspired by the book Ecology of Commerce written by Paul Hawken ,” says Sustainability Director Ramon Arratia . “ He changed our thinking from the traditional takemake-waste to a circular model . Industry has the power to make a difference , and this is where Mission Zero and our 2020 vision was born .”
It was this ambition and integration
of sustainability into every aspect of the Interface business which led Arratia from Vodafone to the seemingly less glamourous world of carpet tiles .
Progress to zero The setting of such an ambitious target has led to some enormous advances , and in many areas Interface is tantalisingly close to achieving zero impact .
20 September 2016