Interface, the world's largest manufacturer of modular carpet and a leader in sustainable business, will debut a new third-party certification from GreenCircle Certified, LLC and spotlight its Climate Take Back™ mission at the 2016 Greenbuild International Conference and Expo taking place Oct. 5-6 in Los Angeles.
Interface, the world's largest manufacturer of modular carpet and a leader in sustainable business, will debut a new third-party certification from GreenCircle Certified, LLC and spotlight its Climate Take Back™ mission at the 2016 Greenbuild International Conference and Expo taking place Oct. 5-6 in Los Angeles.
After months of rigorous audits, GreenCircle developed two GreenCircle Certified Environmental Facts™ ("nutrition facts") labels for Interface's GlasBac® and GlasBacRE products with Nylon 6 or Nylon 6,6 yarns. These products make up the vast majority – nearly 97 percent year-to-date in 2016 – of carpet tiles that Interface manufactures and sells in the United States. Interface is the first flooring manufacturer to receive this certification, which provides third-party validation of both product-level environmental and human health attributes, and factory-level environmental footprint claims in an easy-to-read, accessible format.
GreenCircle is an internationally recognized third-party certification entity whose thorough evaluation process provides independent verification that sustainability claims related to an organization's products and operations are honest, valid, and verified. GreenCircle is ISO 17065 compliant, following industry requirements for bodies certifying products, processes and services, and is recognized by both the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) and the International Living Future Institute as a valid third-party certification entity.
"We saw a problem with the existing sustainability information available today – either too dense for a product specifier or customer to parse through, or too simplistic to provide the information necessary to make an informed decision," said Annie Bevan, Vice President, Certification Services, GreenCircle. "Our Certified Environmental Facts labels solve this problem, giving interested parties quick access to the data they most need."
Similar in format to the now ubiquitous Nutrition Facts Label on all packaged food, GreenCircle's Certified Environmental Facts label allows customers to quickly review metrics including carbon footprint, percent of recycled content, renewable energy, material ingredients and related certifications such as NSF-140, Green Label Plus, and LEED v4 credits. For example, through the certification process, GreenCircle has verified that these standard Interface products are made from at least 66 percent recycled materials, using 99 percent renewable energy.
As part of an ongoing pilot program with the United States Department of Defense, the GreenCircle Certified Environmental Facts label is used to connect product manufacturers with federal purchasers and is recommended in the GSA-DOE Verification Guide for Federal Purchasers of Sustainable Products with the goal of meeting federal procurement requirements set within the Executive Order 13693.
Published Oct 4, 2016 5pm EDT / 2pm PDT / 10pm BST / 11pm CEST
Sustainable Brands Staff