Global flooring empire HMTX Industries has long been an industry leader in quality, low-toxicity flooring materials. Headquartered in Norwalk, Conn., and doing business in more than 40 countries around the world, the HMTX family includes Halstead, the leading supplier of LVT to The Home Depot; Metroflor, its signature residential brand in North America; Teknoflor, its focused healthcare and institutional brand; Aspecta, its high-end global contract brand for architects and designers; as well as Vertex, the foundation of the international supply chain for HMTX which ships upwards of 3,000 containers a month from China, according to Metroflor CEO Russ Rogg. 

“We think that the quality of our product is second to none, and the partners that we utilize to make our products have been doing business with the Stone family for 30 years,” Rogg said. 

The company, which reports $700 million in annual sales, was the first major manufacturer to eliminate ortho-phthalate plasticizers from its resilient flooring products. Group CEO Harlan Stone said the company’s focus on sustainability began more than 10 years ago when the company started using more recycled content, reducing water usage, and creating a healthier work environment for all employees. As a global leader in sustainable and transparent practices, HMTX aims to set industry standards for high-performing and biophilically designed products. Manufacturing processes, workplaces, global outreach and product ingredients all reflect a dedication to the environment, well-being, social justice and equity.

“We are totally committed to being as respectful to the environment as we possibly can with principles of responsible sourcing, saving water and energy, reducing emissions, and recycling embedded into the entire business,” Stone said. 

Nowhere is the company’s commitment to sustainability and transparency more evident than in its business practices in China, where the company is defining a new standard of transparency in Chinese manufacturing. Over three decades, the Stone family has worked closely with two Chinese factories to push boundaries, proving that it’s possible for Chinese manufacturing to deliver on product quality and transparency in social justice, product ingredients and product lifecycle impacts.

Under the leadership of HMTX, both factories have achieved the JUST social justice label—a first for any company in China and all of Asia. The JUST program gauges a company’s performance in a wide range of metrics, including safety, diversity, worker benefits and community engagement.

A variety of Metroflor, Teknoflor, and Aspecta flooring products carry Declare labels and Health Product Declarations (HPD), which are used to disclose and screen product ingredients. In fact, Aspecta Ten was the first rigid core/multilayer modular flooring product to receive a Declare label and the first to receive an HPD. The company has issued several Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for its Aspecta line and will complete EPDs for its entire line of Aspecta products by early 2020. For the residential customer, Halstead products are accompanied by a “Transparency Beyond Ingredients” document that provides them with product ingredients and product safety data—another first for the industry.

In addition, the Teknoflor line offers alternatives to traditional vinyl flooring, such as Naturescapes HPD – a polyurethane sheet flooring product that was the first hard-surface flooring product in the world to receive Living Product Challenge Petal Certification by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI).

Certifications are just part of the company’s sustainability story. The company’s commitment to organizations that are doing important sustainability work around the world include the following: First Global Angel Sponsor of the ILFI, being the first sponsor in China of the ILFI, an Innovator Sponsor of the Health Product Declaration Collaborative and a Trendsetter Sponsor of Mindful Materials.