ARMSTRONG

Armstrong’s Center, Texas engineered hardwood manufacturing plant received Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Chain of Custody certification.

According to Daniel Call, vice president, Wood Product Management, “FSC certification is a measure of our commitment to environmental stewardship, which includes sustainable forest management.”

Built in the early 1950s, the Center, Texas facility is Armstrong’s oldest hardwood plant. The 200-plus employees make residential and commercial flooring for the Armstrong, Bruce and Capella hardwood lines.

Now the plant can produce FSC-certified products in multiple domestic species, including oak, maple, hickory and walnut.

SHAW INDUSTRIES

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency welcomed Shaw Industries, Inc. as its newest WasteWise partner.

WasteWise partners are organizations that voluntarily set goals to reduce municipal solid waste.

Shaw is joining EPA’s WasteWise program as it is launching a project to better track its efforts in reducing the amount of post-industrial waste produced in all of its carpet, rug, hardwood and laminate manufacturing facilities.

The total post-industrial waste produced will be compared to the amount of finished production, and Shaw intents to significantly reduce that percentage over the next three years and beyond.

EPA provides WasteWise partners with technical assistance and helps promote the achievement of its partners.

Shaw is a leading recycler of post-consumer carpet, and the comprehensive Shaw Green Edge Recycling program reclaims and recycles carpet nationwide.

Shaw also manufactures a line of wood flooring from post-industrial recycled wood that uses 50 percent less harvested wood than comparable engineered wood flooring.

Carpet scraps, along with all waste generated from laminate manufacturing at Shaw’s facility in Ringgold, Ga., is diverted from landfills and used to generate fuel. An innovative waste-to-energy technology converts carpet and wood waste to steam energy through gasification.

WasteWise is a voluntary partnership program launched by EPA in 1994 with more than 2000 partners. WasteWise partners not only reduce waste, but also are addressing global climate change. By decreasing the demand on raw materials through waste reduction and recycling, these organizations are improving operations, reducing costs, and minimizing their environmental footprints.