of carpet tile backings - Interface

5
An objective description
of product sustainability
requires an understanding of
the life cycle of the product.
A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
studies the environmental
impacts throughout the life
of a product: from extraction
to production of raw
materials, through to our own
manufacturing and transport,
and use, maintenance and
disposal by our customers.
InterfaceFLOR conducts
a full LCA for every carpet
tile we launch. We follow
the methodology agreed
at industry level by GUT – a
carpet industry association
established to ensure
environmentally compatible
production, compliance with
strict test criteria on hazardous
substances and minimal
emissions and odours in
new carpets.
More than two thirds of the
environmental impact of
a carpet tile relates to the
raw materials needed for
manufacture. Nylon yarn has
the single biggest impact
because its production is very
energy intensive as a result of
the chemical reactions involved
in transforming crude-oil into
the molecular precursor of
nylon. It accounts for almost
half of the total environmental
impact of a carpet tile –
around four times more than
the backing compound, for
example.