Queen's Award celebrates InterfaceFLOR's green achievements

The prestigious Queen's Award has been presented to InterfaceFLOR. The global modular flooring specialist was one of only 12 companies to receive recognition in the Sustainable Development category. This is the second time in the company’s history that it has won the accolade for its pioneering efforts to reduce its environmental footprint.

Behind this achievement is the decision made in the mid-1990’s by the company’s founder Ray Anderson, to take the company away from the traditional approach of ‘take, make, waste’ towards one that mimics nature’s recurring cycles of recycling and re-using whatever waste is made. Anderson also set a target for the company to totally eliminate any negative impact it may have on the environment by 2020; he called this Mission Zero.

Mission Zero is InterfaceFLOR’s promise to consider the environmental impact of every creative, manufacturing and building decision it makes. Today, this drive to achieve complete sustainability is deeply ingrained in the company's ethos and culture and is often described as a journey up a mountain with seven fronts. These range from eliminating toxic substances from products, vehicles and facilities to creating a new business model that demonstrates and supports the value of sustainability-based commerce.

All this may sound like clever marketing but according to Nigel Stansfield (pictured), InterfaceFLOR’s senior director of product, design and innovation, it is only relatively recently that the company has started to communicate the message externally. What is clear is that it is something other companies could learn from, be they architectural practices, design studios, retailers, installers or, indeed, other carpet manufacturers.

“I would urge the rest of the industry not just to focus on one or two aspects of sustainability,” says Stansfield. “At InterfaceFLOR, we look at sustainability in its broadest sense, both from an environmental and a social point of view. Many people, when they talk about sustainability, think about the environment first and then about recycled content or climate change or renewable energy. What we do is embrace the fundamental principles of sustainability in all its dimensions.”

This thinking is driven from the top and penetrates the entire organisation. What comes across when talking to people who work for the company is that everyone within the business is deeply committed to what Interface does for the environment; it is almost as if it is part of their DNA.

“We have internal programmes that teach and train new people about how to understand the principles of our organisation and that relate sustainability to every aspect of our business,” explains Stansfield. “We call it ‘fast forward’ to 2020.”

Another aspect worth noting is the depth of approach. For example, mention waste and most companies think of manufacturing and raw material waste, but InterfaceFLOR takes it further, looking at waste of time, waste of effort and waste as a basic principle.

Stansfield’s message for any organisation is that being sustainable is about being innovative, you have to dare to be different. “By being innovative in a sustainable way, you’ll engage your people, you’ll engage your customers, you’ll engage your suppliers and you will become more profitable. InterfaceFLOR has demonstrated that.”