Mohawk GreenWorks™: Environmental Leadership That Works!
While making "green claims" is easy, Mohawk is committed to actually making a green difference.
For years, Mohawk has been an industry leader in actively seeking innovative ways to recycle, reduce, reuse and renew. Through GreenWorks, our umbrella program for simplified management of information about green projects, we continue to develop numerous energy-saving initiatives and eco-friendly flooring options. These solutions work for everyone: our business, our industry, our neighbors, our immediate environment and our entire planet.
We're constantly exploring new ideas to make our products and processes more sustainable and reduce our use of natural resources. Our Corporate Policy reflects our commitment to being responsible and sustainable.
By the Numbers
- 500: The number of Mohawk products currently containing recycled materials
- 3 Billion: Approximately how many recycled plastic bottles we take in each year to manufacture Mohawk EverStrand™ carpet and other home products
- 3 Billion: Pounds of pre- and post-consumer waste Mohawk diverts from landfills each year
- 100 percent: Water from manufacturing processes at certain Mohawk ceramic tile facilities that is reused and never discharged as waste
- 7 square yards: Energy savings for this amount of SmartStrand® with DuPont™ Sorona® carpet is equal to one gallon of gasoline
- 1 Billion: Pounds of foam trim diverted from landfills and used to create Mohawk cushion
Those are just a few of the many ways we've found to decrease our carbon footprint. The result: beautiful, environmentally friendly flooring and reduced impact on the planet. After all, Mohawk's not just doing this for show; we're doing it for generations to come.
Visit Mohawksustainability.com for specific facts/numbers and other information about Mohawk sustainability initiatives.
Corporate Environmental Policy
Mohawk Industries believes that sustainability is an essential business practice in today’s global economy. Mohawk’s goal is to be a leader in the area of sustainability and environmental responsibility for the industry, the corporation and our stakeholders.
We will plan for the future, while accepting the urgency of today. We are committed to the communities where we live and work as well as our other stakeholders.
In line with these principles, Mohawk strives to encourage continuous improvement in all areas of environmental stewardship — responsible use of raw materials and natural resources, design processes and operations of all facilities, to reduce the impact of our activities on the environment and our associates.
Mohawk’s strong focus on reducing, recycling and reuse, have made us an industry leader.
Production as well as Research & Development efforts continually assess alternate materials and process improvements for our products and potential new products. This cycle of continuous improvement allows Mohawk to capitalize on technology and efficiency to reduce our environmental footprint. Quality of life, quality of the environment, quality of products and processes is a by-product of all we do at Mohawk – from the boardroom, to employees on the production floor, to the field sales staff.
Our most valuable asset is our associates.
Their well–being is an uncompromizable core value for all Mohawk operations. Through training and technology, we will continuously improve/optimize our products, our processes, safety of our work environment, and technical skills of our associates throughout the organization.
All these values encompass the foundation of our efforts in becoming a leading sustainable company. We are committed to maintaining an open and transparent dialogue with each of our stakeholders by reporting our performance on a regular basis.
Mohawk’s management is committed to supporting the development of, and compliance with, environmental and safety programs based on Mohawk’s common objectives and business success goals.
Jeff Lorberbaum
Chief Executive Officer
Mohawk GreenWorks™ Hardwood
Mohawk’s firm commitment to sustainability and transparency in all of its hardwood sourcing and manufacturing is developed through numerous Mohawk GreenWorks initiatives.
Mohawk offers everything you need to get sustainable, environmentally friendly flooring for any room.
As consumers increasingly look for options that lower energy costs and protect the planet for future generations, Mohawk offers superior quality and environmental ingenuity through GreenWorks. Association with NAHB and LEED assures consumers that Mohawk's engineered hardwoods have been third–party inspected and certified as truly green.
Hardwood Flooring's Green Story
Reclaimed Beauty From Lands Near and Far
Every day, buildings and structures are dismantled across the country, resulting in added waste to landfills. Fortunately, the deconstruction industry continues to grow and salvage an increasing percentage of materials from old buildings—and we do our part as well.
Rich and full of texture, Mohawk Reclaimed Hardwood Flooring brings antique natural beauty from lands near and far. The wood used to make this exclusive flooring has a history of its own as it was reclaimed from ancient buildings, some as old as 600 years.
By reusing the wood, Mohawk keeps this potential waste from going into landfills, further illustrating our dedication to the environment. Many of the reclaimed hardwood floor planks carry some of the original antiquing and distressing, revealing the wood's unique past, while providing original style and fashion for the home.
It's one more way Mohawk can lessen the negative impact on landfills and offer beautiful, unique hardwood flooring.
Additionally, in our engineered hardwood floors, Mohawk features PureBond®, a new technology that replaces urea formaldehyde adhesives traditionally used in the manufacture of composite wood products.* Purebond® Technology eliminates formaldehyde emissions associated with UF adhesives. Lower formaldehyde emissions can contribute to better indoor air quality in the home.
Mohawk focuses on providing domestic and international exotic products that are both stylish and environmentally sound. Mohawk engineered hardwoods were the first to achieve FloorScore certification from Scientific Certification Systems (SCS), a coveted distinction for indoor air quality emissions.
As well, Mohawk engineered woods are compliant with CARB Phase II requirements for indoor air quality and meet the guidelines specified for the Lacey Act.
Lacey Act Compliant
The Mohawk Flooring brand takes very seriously our position as an industry leader when it comes to Lacey Act compliance. Our adherence to the requirements of the expanded Lacey Act gives consumers full confidence they are purchasing flooring that meets the strictest wood sourcing standards in the world.
FloorScore® Indoor Air Quality
FloorScore, developed by the Resilient Floor Covering Institute (RFCI) in conjunction with Scientific Certification Systems (SCS), tests and certifies hard surface flooring and flooring adhesive products for compliance with rigorous indoor air quality emissions requirements. Individual volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are evaluated using health-based specifications. Flooring and adhesives that earn FloorScore certification earn a legitimately enhanced market position, distinguished by the FloorScore certification label.
Products bearing the FloorScore label meet the indoor air emissions criteria of:
- Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS)
- LEED® Green Building Rating Systems
- Green Guide for Health Care
Only on select Engineered Hardwood Styles.
*PureBond® Technology applied only to domestically produced engineered products
**PureBond® is a registered trademark of Columbia Forest Products, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. Used under license.
Mohawk GreenWorks™ Laminate
For consumers looking for eco-friendly options that protect the planet for future generations, Mohawk offers superior quality and environmental ingenuity through GreenWorks, its umbrella program for simplified management of information about green projects.
Mohawk's extensive variety of environmentally friendly laminates in multiple upscale designs caters to buyers looking for style with a sustainable edge. Recycled coreboards and innovative green processes let consumers know Mohawk is committed to manufacturing that makes a difference in your home and the rest of the world.
Laminate Flooring's Green Story
As a flooring company dedicated to environmental leadership that works, Mohawk is even eco–conscious when it comes to manufacturing laminate.
Landfill space is decreasing. By producing laminate boards in the United States made of 74 percent pre–consumer recycled content, Mohawk keeps 680 million pounds of material out of landfill.
One billion pounds of wood waste is reused in Mohawk laminate board production. In the U.S. facilities, only renewable, fast growing southern pine is used.
Mohawk's beautiful laminates start with pre–consumer recycled content. At the end of production, the leftover wood waste created during the process can be reused as fuel.
From plastic soda bottles to wood from old buildings to sawdust, Mohawk finds ways to reclaim, recycle and reuse.
Demand the NALFA Certification Seal. Or roll the dice on quality. You decide.
We say choose the laminate flooring that is rigorously tested, proven by a third-party facility and guaranteed to be of the highest quality. But we don’t expect you to take our word for it. That’s why we have the NALFA Certification Seal. The Certification Seal proves that our floors passed 10 very demanding performance tests. In addition, our floors comply with all CARB (California Air Resource Board) requirements. We offer the industry’s best quality laminate. Not because we say so, but because the NALFA Certification Seal proves it.
FloorScore® Indoor Air Quality
FloorScore, developed by the Resilient Floor Covering Institute (RFCI) in conjunction with Scientific Certification Systems (SCS), tests and certifies hard surface flooring and flooring adhesive products for compliance with rigorous indoor air quality emissions requirements. Individual volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are evaluated using health-based specifications. Flooring and adhesives that earn FloorScore certification earn a legitimately enhanced market position, distinguished by the FloorScore certification label.
Products bearing the FloorScore label meet the indoor air emissions criteria of:
- Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS)
- LEED® Green Building Rating Systems
- Green Guide for Health Care
Rebond
Mohawk bonded carpet cushion is made from post–industrial urethane foam trim. After foam is fabricated for uses such as bedding, furniture, automotive seating and headliners, packaging, and hundreds of other applications, the trim is sent to our bonded facilities.
Our bonded carpet cushion is made from approximately 90% post–industrial recycled material. The only “non–recycled” ingredient that we use is a urethane prepolymer that binds the trim particles together.
At our facilities, we have sophisticated equipment that converts this trim into a uniform, high quality carpet cushion. If this bonding process did not exist, approximately 1 billion pounds of foam trim would be shipped to landfills each year.
All Mohawk’s bonded products are tested in accordance with the Carpet and Rug Institute’s Indoor Air Quality Program. The Green Label is your assurance that this product meets the established guidelines for emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC’s). Mohawk’s cushions contain no formaldehyde.
Synthetic
As part of our overall corporate waste reduction and conservation program, Mohawk has developed a process for producing quality synthetic fiber pad from our fiber and carpet manufacturing waste. These wastes are generated during normal manufacturing steps and were originally thrown away creating additional waste.
Our process was specifically designed to recover these waste materials and to transform them into quality pad using a set of proprietary processes that work the fibers into a dense fiber pad that provides ideal cushioning effect for carpet.
The pad is made from 100% post–industrial recycled synthetic fibers and does not contain adhesives. It does not contain any butylatedhydroxytoluene (BHT) due to being manufactured wholly of synthetic fibers. The synthetic fibers are mechanically bonded and the face is thermally sealed to aid installation.
All Mohawk’s synthetic fiber products are tested in accordance with the Carpet and Rug Institute’s Indoor Air Quality Program. The Green Label is your assurance that this product meets the established guidelines for emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC’s). Mohawk’s cushions contain no formaldehyde.
Tile
Our processes utilize the five R’s—Reduce, Recycle, Recover, Reuse, and
Renew.Nearly all (97%) of the tile
products Mohawk manufactures use some sort of recycled wasted materials that
come from internal and external manufacturing processes.
Every
year Mohawk plants recover more than 35 million pounds of waste-fired
tile.This is combined with over 197
million pounds of waste material from a different manufacturing process and
used to make new tile products.
MICROBAN®
ANTIMICROBIAL TECHNOLOGY
During
the manufacturing process, the glaze is infused with Microban® Antimicrobial
Technology, which inhibits the growth of stain-and odor-causing bacteria on the
surface of the tile.The result is an
additional layer of durable,
long-lasting protection, keeping the tile cleaner, between cleanings.
Microban Technology is incorporated into the glaze during the
manufacturing process, so it starts working the moment the tile is
complete.Unlike other antimicrobial
agents on the market, Microban® doesn’t require UV light to be effective.It won’t wash off or wear away, giving your
design an added level of durable, long-lasting protection – and it’s perfect
for high traffic environments.
PTCA
– CERTIFIED
Some
foreign imports entering the market today claim to be porcelain tile, but do
not actually meet the U.S. standards for porcelain – putting you at risk of
selecting an inferior product for your project.PTCA protects you by guaranteeing the products you select are, in fact,
porcelain tiles.
