Conservation
At Mannington, we believe that how we manufacture is equally important to what we manufacture.
Conservation has many faces at our company. It begins with the wise use of energy, water and the habitat surrounding our manufacturing facilities. And conservation continues with smarter use and reuse of materials, helping us toward becoming a Net User of Waste.
Save Energy Now LEADER
With a determined goal to improve energy efficiency by 25% over the next ten years, Mannington is progressing with ongoing, rigorous energy management efforts to increase the energy efficiency of all of its operations. We are also dedicated to reduce related carbon emissions. Click here to learn more.
The industry’s largest solar array
We have installed more than 2 acres of solar arrays on the roof of our New Jersey warehouse, and were pleased to learn that this is the largest solar array in the flooring industry – more than seven times over. More than 700 megawatt hours of clean energy are generated by these solar panels, helping power our Salem site...we didn’t expand in 2009 as hoped for, but we will in 2010. Click here to see how much clean energy Mannington Mills is generating.
EPA SmartWaySM Transport Partnership
Mannington Mills, Inc. is a member of the EPA SmartWaySM Transportation Partnership, an innovative collaboration between U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the freight industry designed to increase energy efficiency while significantly reducing greenhouse gases and air pollution. Mannington Mills' contributions to the Partnership’s goal to reduce 33 to 66 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and up to 200,000 tons of nitrogen oxide per year by 2012 entail improving the environmental performance of our freight operations.
Launched in February 2004, the SmartWay Transport Partnership aims to achieve fuel savings of up to 150 million barrels of fuel per year. The Partnership currently has over 2550 Partners. click here to learn more.
Cogeneration
We have also invested in a high efficiency cogeneration system for our Salem site, using state of the art natural gas-fired engines to generate electricity for the plants and offices. Using this and other processes such as rerouting heat generated by compressing air into ductworks helps keep the power and heat on, while lowering our energy consumption.
Biodiesel and rail shipping – reducing the use of fossil fuels
We use B5, 5% soybean biodiesel, in our fleets because it burns cleaner and helps reduce dependence on foreign oil. We also added a spur to a rail line near our New Jersey plant, to reduce the environmental impact of shipping heavy limestone for use in our VCT, resulting in an annual fuel savings of several hundred thousand gallons.
Water use reduction
Water is a key component in manufacturing every product in our portfolio. We know that it is a precious natural resource, and so we have worked to reduce its use in our processes. In 2008 alone, our Calhoun, GA, carpet manufacturing facilities reduced water consumption by 30% versus previous years.
Some actions are as simple as converting mowed lawns at our facilities to natural landscaping. Creating wildlife habitats with wildflowers and native grasses reduces water use and eliminates the need for chemical fertilizers as well as the wasted energy and pollution created by mowing. The results are both smart and beautiful.
“The Purple Martin Project”: Cultivating bird migration for pest control
How are the habitat and housing of birds directly related to product manufacturing?
Our headquarters in southern New Jersey is located in one of the region’s largest tidal wetlands. As a result, there are insects, some of which are attracted to our product components and become easily trapped in the wet ‘wearlayer’ of the product, possibly resulting in product defects.
In the mid-1980’s, a few associates were convinced that there was a more natural option than pesticides. Thus, we installed houses for Purple Martins, birds that migrate from Brazil to the United States for the summer months – and that eat massive amounts of insects.
This “Purple Martin Project” has proven to be the most environmentally friendly and cost effective way to deal with the insects. Today, Purple Martins east of the Rockies are entirely dependent upon man-made houses – which on our property are found adjacent to the manufacturing buildings. With the help of our birds, and the continuing use of screens and bug-proof entries, our insect problem is now more manageable.
Below are our purple martin counts for Salem, NJ in recent years.
|
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
| nests |
42 |
48 |
43 |
62 |
67 |
96 |
96 |
89 |
96 |
95 |
| eggs |
132 |
158 |
87 |
162 |
198 |
223 |
336 |
369 |
381 |
395 |
| youngsters |
103 |
129 |
59 |
130 |
159 |
192 |
264 |
337 |
359 |
326 |
In 2007, we partnered with a local Cubs Scout Pack in Calhoun, GA to try to attract purple martins at our commercial carpet facility. We started with two gourds and had a great first year. We were disappointed none returned between 2008 and 2010 and hope for a better turn out in 2011.
|
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
| nests |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| eggs |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| youngsters |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
For more on purple martins click here.
Creating natural landscape buffers to stop erosion and runoff
A few years ago, the wetlands adjoining our New Jersey location lacked a transitional area between land and water, also called a ‘riparian buffer,’ In nature, these overgrown areas next to a stream or estuary stop erosion and sediment runoff, provide cover, and offer needed food and shade to fish and animals.
Along with the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, the US Fish & Wildlife Service, and local schools we planted hundreds of native shrubs and trees alongside Mannington facilities. More recently, Mannington volunteers, together with the NJ Audubon Society, planted another 3,000 trees and native plants in a 12 acre riparian zone. This was a 3-phase planting that was completed in May of 2010. By planting this riparian buffer we established an area of shrub-scrub habitat with a life expectancy of over 30 years (eventually succeeding to forest). During the first 30+ years of establishment, the project will provide habitat for bird species of concern: blue-winged warbler, eastern kingbird, brown thrasher, prairie warbler, eastern towhee & field sparrow.
A Commitment to be a Net User of Waste
We are committed to being a Net User of Waste, taking in more waste than we output for disposal. This is not a magic formula, it’s an absolute commitment to make great products, while using more waste than we dispose. 
To reach this goal, we claim waste from other manufacturers and landfill diversion initiatives. We then increase the amount of recycled materials in our products – particularly post-consumer waste – by investing in new technology, developing product designs that can incorporate recycled content and building infrastructure to capture and recycle post-consumer waste.
We also decrease the amount of waste that we produce, continually improving our product formulations and practices to produce flooring as cleanly and efficiently as possible.
Drywall to Flooring
When we learned about the massive amounts of drywall choking landfills, we redesigned our Premium Tile to incorporate pulverized gypsum which is claimed from regional construction sites. We are the only flooring manufacturer incorporating drywall into flooring.
Sample return is simple reuse
A simple action can add up to big impact. We offer a postage-paid return label for every commercial product sample that we ship. So when you are finished with your project, rather than throwing it into the dumpster, drop that sample in the mail. We will send it on to the next user; and at the end of its useful life, we donate samples to local charities, churches, schools and civic groups.
Dematerialization of packaging
We reuse twelve foot cardboard core tubes from our New Jersey facilities for our operation in Georgia where they are cut in half and used as shipping cores for carpet, then eventually recycled. And when shipping tiles and other product, we have reduced packaging to ship our carpet and hard surface products through using shrinkwrap – using 90% less materials by weight.
CARE: the Carpet America Recovery
As commercial carpet manufacturers, we are long-time members of the Carpet America Recovery Effort, a joint industry and government effort working to reduce carpet going to landfills through better collection infrastructure and serving as a resource for technical, economic and market development opportunities for recovered carpet.
To learn more about CARE and our contributions, visit www.carpetrecovery.org.