For the fourth consecutive year, Mohawk Industries has been honored as the most sustainable flooring manufacturer in the Southeastern Corporate Sustainability Rankings’ annual assessment of the sustainable practices of the region’s largest businesses.
Among Georgia-based companies, Mohawk rose to second behind UPS, while its overall regional rank increased six places to number five. To compile the annual rankings, the Southeastern Corporate Sustainability Rankings reviews the practices of publicly-traded companies from an eight-state region: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
“Mohawk’s rise in the Southeastern Corporate Sustainability Rankings reflects the continual expansion of our sustainable practices across the business,” said Jenny Cross, Mohawk’s vice president of sustainability. “Thanks to the dedication of our thousands of associates, we have made tremendous progress toward our very aggressive sustainability goals. All of us take great pride in the steps we are taking to lower our energy and water consumption, to up-cycle our waste stream and to expand the range of our products incorporating recycled content. Our rise from eleventh to fifth in the regional rankings underscores our ongoing commitment to more sustainable operations.”
In addition to Mohawk, other companies recognized for an exceptional sustainable practices include such well-known organizations as Delta, Denny’s, Hanes, Lexmark, Office Depot, Sanderson Farms, Sonoco, Vulcan Materials and Yum! Brands.
“Our sustainability platform is an extension of our core principle of doing the right thing for our communities, our employees and our customers,” said Cross.
Mohawk employs a three-factor strategic approach to sustainability, focusing on the company’s processes, products and people. According to Cross, each year the company processes billions pounds of recycled material into higher value streams. Six of the company’s 10 U.S. ceramic tile manufacturing facilities recover and reuse all of their process waste water. Twenty-four of the company’s carpet manufacturing plants have achieved an internal “Zero Waste” status. Across all flooring categories, hundreds of the company’s residential and commercial products contain recycled material. Mohawk also continues to make progress toward an aggressive 25% reduction in energy consumption, greenhouse gases, water use and landfill waste by the year 2020.
The Southeastern Corporate Sustainability Rankings evaluate companies on a variety of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors that align with Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI) G4 Guidelines. Founded in 2010 by GreenBusiness Works and Mark Callaway Investments, the annual rankings are designed to help Southeastern companies maintain and improve their sustainability practices, while establishing a legacy of corporate and social responsibility in the region. Companies must be publically traded on a major global exchange, have a minimum market capitalization of $500 million USD as of Dec. 31, 2013, and have produced a publicly available corporate sustainability report to be considered for the rankings.
To learn more about Mohawk’s sustainability initiatives and to view the company’s most recent corporate sustainability report, visit MohawkSustainability.com.
