China production plant opened by InterfaceFLOR

Interface Modular Carpet has established a modular plant in Taicang, in the Jiangsu Province in China, which employs 110 people. The new plant will supply carpets which include a large amount of recycled content for the Chinese market.

Dan Hendrix, the president and chief executive of Interface Inc, travelled from Atlanta in the US to open the new plant.

InterfaceFLOR refurbished an existing building to create the factory.

The factory’s designers also used salvaged timber and bricks from demolished houses and bridges in the area.

InterfaceFLOR said the factory will concentrate on manufacturing carpet tiles for the education, healthcare, hospitality, office and leisure markets.

InterfaceFLOR, which is part of US based Interface Inc, employs 380 staff at its base in Shelf, near Halifax, West Yorkshire.

InterfaceFLOR, whose customers include Yorkshire Water, Yorkshire Bank, Santander, HBOS and the University of Bradford, aims to become “greener” by cutting its carbon footprint, and re-designing products to ensure that less material goes to landfill sites.

InterfaceFLOR began its quest to be a sustainable business 17 years ago.

The drive towards “Mission Zero” was started by the company’s founder, Ray Anderson, in 1994.

After reading Paul Hawken’s book, The Ecology of Commerce, Mr Anderson realised that the “take, make, waste” cycle of manufacturing had to come to an end because it was environmentally flawed.

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