Responsible Production & the Circular Economy

Mohawk Group, the commercial division of Mohawk Industries, now has more than 300 flooring products that have been certified by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI) as having achieved the stringent requirements for Living Product Challenge Petal Certification. Because most of the products are carpet tile styles made in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley at our Glasgow facility, we saw it only fitting to refer to Glasgow as our first "Living Site."

The new sustainability project kicks off in Tokyo on 13 June, hot on the heels of Worldwide Environment Day 2019 and the one-year anniversary of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) joining UN Environment’s #CleanSeas, an initiative also supported by P&G. The podiums are set to be unveiled in June 2020.

Leading commercial flooring manufacturer Mohawk Group earned several awards this week in Chicago at NeoCon covering all major flooring categories, including carpet tile, broadloom, area rugs, resilient tile and resilient sheet. NeoCon is North America’s largest design exposition and conference for commercial interior design professionals, offering ideas and introductions that shape the built environment today and into the future.

The latest revision of the AA1000 Assurance Standard, the AA1000AS (2019), has been initiated by AccountAbility for public consultation via a globally accessible web platform today. The AA1000AS (2019) is an internationally accepted, freely available standard that provides the requirements for AccountAbility licensed assurance providers to conduct good-quality sustainability assurance on sustainability disclosures by reporting organisations.

“The World Circular Economy Forum brought together more than 2,000 business leaders, policymakers and experts from around the world to present the best circular economy solutions”, it states on its website. As such, it reflects the current state of affairs and the direction of the international community towards transitioning to a circular economy. There’s really no better place to be if you crave a rich multi-stakeholder perspective on the topic in the short span of two days.

The votes have been tallied, the judges have spoken, and there’s a new Koch Innovation Challenge Grand Champion for 2019.

In Friday’s final pitch competition (May 10) at Wichita State University, members of Team Water Level Sensor Buddy (Cierra O’Neill, Edie Reese, Jedidiah Borchard and Tyler Thompson) managed to claim the title of Grand Champion over four other finalist teams with their invention – an all-mechanical, magnet-based tool for the visually impaired to help measure fluid levels when filling up water bottles or drinking glasses.

I would like to congratulate the Sappi North America (SNA) team on another successful year, truly embodying this year’s theme of renewal. The business underwent a significant change with the conversion of Paper Machine 1 (PM1) at the Somerset Mill to be able to produce packaging and speciality paper grades. We also commenced a project to increase dissolving pulp capacity at Cloquet. These exciting changes are part of Sappi’s global strategy to boost capacity in higher growth and higher margin product segments. Despite the inevitable disruption which accompanies such significant capital projects, the business was able to offset cost pressure in the graphic paper business, nearly doubled packaging business volumes and improved overall profitability after the conversion of Somerset PM1. Impor

In addition to receiving the LEED Platinum certification, Olympic House is the first international headquarters – and the second building overall – to obtain the highest (Platinum) level of the Swiss Sustainable Construction Standard (SNBS). It has also been awarded the Swiss standard for energy-efficient buildings, Minergie P. Olympic House is the first building to receive these three certifications, and the first in Switzerland to achieve LEED v4 Platinum.

Shipping containers play a major role in global trade, helping companies around the world to move goods securely from A to B. However, until recently, containers manufactured in China were painted using solvent-heavy coatings. This endangered the health of local communities due to the release of high concentrations of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) into the atmosphere.

The importance of transparency has continued to gain traction in the apparel and fashion industry in recent years, and for good reasons. Clothing shapes more than just our wardrobes, it shapes the environmental, economic and social landscapes of the countries where they are produced.