 |
| Providing Wisdom in Building a Sustainable Future | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
A What? A Company That Cares What You Think? by Jon Dougal A common misnomer in the flooring industry is Collins & Aikman. Now branded as Tandus Corporation, manufacturing and distributing from Dalton Georgia, they were one of the first, if not the first, to endorse sustainability under their leader, MacBridger, in the early 1990's. They invested heavily in recycling technology never knowing if it was going to bear a profit, but continued on because “it was the right thing to do”! Collins & Aikman split with the Tandus Brand catering to their core businesses in auto parts and other interests. Collins & Aikman, in bankruptcy proceedings for a year, are no longer in business. Tandus, however, is very competitive in the cradle to cradle process of recycling many various plastic based materials into recycled, not down-cycled, products. Since 1994, the company's C&A brand has operated a closed-loop recycling program (Floore) that to date has diverted more than 120 million pounds of reclaimed vinyl and vinyl-backed carpet from landfills and incinerators, turning it back into 100 percent recycled content backing for its floor coverings. In addition, the company has also saved 120 million pounds of virgin material that has not been extracted from the earth, for a total impact of 240 million pounds. Tandus is now encouraging its customers to voice their opinions about the environmental issues that matter the most to them, and what additional steps they would like to see the company take to reduce its environmental footprint. This is a rare attitude for a manufacturer to take since it puts them in a rarified atmosphere of “What If?” What if the general synopsis of respondees is that Tandus should take a direction or produce a product that is not profitable, has different distribution channels, or alienates a certain percentage of loyal customers - and they have plenty of loyal customers because of their reputation of standing for integrity and great customer service. Through a short, seven-question survey on its company's Web site, Tandus hopes to gain customer insight into environmental initiatives it can implement to improve its environmental business practices through global warming and climate neutral programs. The survey can be accessed on the company's Web site at www.tandus.com, and by clicking on the "Be the Difference!" icon. How refreshing to hear Lee Schilling, senior vice president, state "Tandus recognizes that there are practical solutions at our disposal and it is our goal to continue to improve our business practices environmentally,". "But we cannot do it alone. Our customers' perspective is a vital part in our continuing to improve our path to sustainability. Through our new survey, we are asking customers, designers, architects and students to have a voice." Additional sustainable strides and programs Tandus offers include:  o Ability to offer its customers climate neutral installations; o Significant reductions in total energy usage over a 10-year period; o Eleven percent of the company's energy requirements are derived from renewable energy sources; they actually use bio-diesel to run many of their high energy requirements;o Retrieve, a sample recovery program, reclaiming samples from the marketplace and reusing or recycling into recycled content backing for new floor coverings; ando Carbon neutral carpet program that allows customers to offset the CO2 emissions associated with the life-cycle of their carpet purchase.Tandus' Be the Difference! survey is an extension of the sustainable initiatives and programs the company already offers for its customers. As the company continues to progress environmentally, it understands the importance in having input from its customers. "Collaboration with the marketplace is vital as we define our path forward," adds Schilling. We salute the forward thinking and attention to consumer input evidenced by this survey. Many people in the field have some strong ideas about what the market needs and who better to suggest futuristic solutions? |
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Copyright © 2000-2007 GreenSage. All rights reserved.