Success Story of Interface (Green World)

Hello All,

Got some time to trash out some more idea into this blog. Bear with me please ...

Actually very recently I come across one interesting report titled as "Green Jobs:
Towards Decent Work in sustainable, low carbon world":

"
In the 1990s, Interface launched a transition from selling to leasing office carpets. It remains responsible for keeping the carpet clean, in return for a monthly fee. Regular inspections permit the company to focus on replacing just the 10–20 percent of carpet tiles that show most of the wear and tear, instead of the entire carpet, as in past practice. This more targeted replacement helps reduce the amount of material
required by some 80 percent.

Interface has also made strides toward making the carpet material more durable. It developed a new material called solenium that lasts four times as long as traditional carpets, but uses up to 40 percent less raw material and embodied energy. In addition, used carpets can be completely remanufactured into new carpets, instead of being thrown away or “down-cycled” into less valuable products.

The company’s accomplishments over the past decade are impressive. Between 1996 and 2007, the amount of waste sent to landfills from its manufacturing facilities decreased by 66 percent. During that time, the company’s “ReEntry” program reclaimed a total of 60 million pounds (about 30,000 metric tons)of carpet material that otherwise would have been sent to landfills. Meanwhile, the percentage of recycled
and bio-based materials used to manufacture products has increased from 0.5 percent to 25 percent. Energy use per square yard of carpet produced has been cut by 45 percent, and the share of renewable energy has risen from zero to 27 percent. Total greenhouse gas emissions are down 33 percent.
"

Great one ..... Just do a search in Google, you'll have the original document (of page : 376 :)) A good reading .... mind it just reading, going through it I'm not sure how much this will ultimately be applicable. Note that Kyoto Protocol is yet to be adopted on principle.

Happy Reading ....



[reference : Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low-Carbon World,
UNEP/ILO/IOE/ITUC, September 2008.

The Report is available for download at:
www.unep.org/civil_society/Publications/index.asp
www.unep.org/labour_environment/features/greenjobs.asp]