Two of Tarkett's plants in Ohio that manufacture Johnsonite flooring products have been certified to ISO 14001:2004 standards. Advantage International Registrar recently audited the Environmental Management System at the plants. In addition to the recent ISO 14001:2004 certification, the Quality Management Systems at each facility meet ISO 9001:2008 standards.

“Receiving the ISO 14001:2004 certification of the EMS at both of our Ohio plants is an important step to reaching our goal for all of our manufacturing plants in North America to receive ISO 14001 certification,” said Diane Martel, vp environmental planning and strategy for Tarkett in North America. “We hope to make that goal a reality by the end of this year.”

ISO 14001:2004 is an international standard which sets out the requirements for an Environmental Management System. Its core criteria include: prevention of pollution, continual improvement and compliance with relevant national and local regulatory requirements. The process begins with a regulatory compliance assessment and an evaluation of the organization's environmental impacts and aspects. This assessment leads to detailed projects which tackle pressing issues and evolves into a journey of continuous improvement.

“The certification of our Environmental Management System is part of our strategy in creating world class manufacturing,” said Brian Fink, operations manager of Johnsonite’s facility in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. “We look forward to seeing the continual improvement our EMS will achieve.”

“The Middlefield, Ohio, plant has diverted over 1.3 million pounds of material from landfill so far this year,” added Jeff Lipnichan, Middlefield operations manager. “Diverted material includes waste rubber, card board, paper, skids, plastic, super-sacks and other like material used during the manufacturing process.”