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| A J+J employee shows her pride in making the company’s carpets as part of the mill’s 2013 Sustainability Report which presents goals and achievements of the manufacturer. |
J+J Flooring Group has released its 2013 Sustainability Report presenting goals and achievements of the Dalton-based carpet manufacturer’s journey toward increased environmental accountability and transparency. The annual summary provides an update on sustainable advances in product development, resource reduction, certifications and progress toward the company’s 20/20 vision goals, according to the company.
“In the half-century since our family-owned business was founded, what has not changed is how we conduct business,” said David Jolly, J+J Flooring Group president and CEO. “We continue to value responsibility, which means transparency regarding the sustainability of both our products and operations.”
According to Jolly, conservation is at the core of J+J’s sustainability initiatives, and the company has developed aggressive goals for 2020 or sooner on energy, emissions, water, and waste.
Highlights from the report include:
• A lighting plan for more than 900,000 square-feet of manufacturing space includes upgrading more than 1,200 fixtures, eliminating and recycling less useful fixtures, and improving overall lighting with added sensors and natural light. The redesign projects annual savings of more than $100,000 and is a big step toward the 2020 goal of reducing energy intensity by 20%.
• In its second year, the Aquafinity wastewater reclamation system achieved more than a 50% reduction in water used in the dyeing process via reclamation, cleaning and reuse. Ultimately it will recover 90% of dyehouse wastewater annually. The process also creates warmer water, supporting energy conservation goals.
• Waste reduction moved forward with 99.7% of raw materials made into finished products or recycled. Less than 0.3% was sent to a landfill with a goal of being landfill-free by 2015. The company continues to implement programs such as an in-house yarn extrusion process that reduces use of virgin nylon. In 2013, J+J averaged 22% pre-consumer recycled content in products using Encore SD Ultima yarn.
• Introduced in 2013, Kinetex is a textile composite flooring and alternative to hard surface flooring. Manufactured using no less than 50% post-consumer recycled content, it is the only flooring product that can be recycled into itself, much like an aluminum can. It was selected as a 2014 Top 10 Green Building Product by Environmental Building News and GreenSpec.
• Transparency is the key to sustainability. J+J completed Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) on all major product families. Health Product Declarations (HPDs) on all major product families will be released by the end of 2014.
To view the full report, click here.
