Case Study 1

Interface Inc.: Doing Well by Doing Good

Team Members:
1.
2.
3.

Annamalai. V (13AD03)
Elango. S (13AD10)
Karthik. G (13AD18)

Q1) Vision and inspiration dont appear on the balance sheet, but their absence will show up there sooner or later if
we fail to pay attention. Comment.

Q2)List out steps taken by Interface towards Mission Zero since the case study was written in 2012.
Mission Zero:
The principle state that human beings must not increase the content of substances from the Earths crust or man-made
substances in the Earths biosphere as this may affect the life supporting capacity of the Earth.
Interface towards mission zero (Mt. Sustainability):
Steps
1.

Eliminating Waste - A waste control programme called QUEST (Quality Utilising Employees Suggestions and
Teamwork) was set up, dirty and damaged yarn could be used in carpet edges, green tax could be paid, trees could be
planted, etc. Mission Zero 2020 is the commitment taken by the company thay it would not take a single drop of oil from
the planet to manufacture carpet tiles. (Note: It is a type of companies whose primary ingredient was petroleum)

2.

Rendering Emissions Benign - A Toxic Chemical Elimination Team was created to work with suppliers to eliminate
harmful chemicals upstream in the value chain, Life Cycle Assessments of different products was done to identify where
the harm was maximum, and another unique initiative was the voluntary buying of carbon offsets.

3.

Shifting to Renewable Energy - The Bentley Prince Street plant set the standard by connecting all of its solar generated
electricity directly to its carpet tufting machines and selling the carpet so produced under a new brand called SolarMade carpet, The Interface FLOR plants at LaGrange soon had 100% of their electricity requirements met by on-site
solar photovoltaic cells, Green-e-certified renewable energy credits and/or wind power.

4.

Closing the Loop The new recyclable Carpets contain an upper layer of yarn which could be made of nylon, wool,
polypropylene, polyester or a mix of several materials. This upper layer is tufted into a polyester backing layer and there
are layers of latex and vinyl plastisol holding it in place. Thus produced lesser waste and was functionally more
efficient. PVC was also recycled

5.

Resource Efficient Transportation- Calculations revealed that sending out deliveries through rail, instead of trucks,
reduced 75% of BTUs13 per ton mile, Research went into reducing the weight of the carpet without impairing
functionality to make shipping even more efficient.

6.

Sensitizing Stakeholders Interface worked to set the industry standards when it came to sustainability and it wanted
to draw all its stakeholders into its circle of influence.

7.

Redesigning Commerce - Carpets were leased instead of being sold, The customer got new carpet at zero capital cost
and Interface had a steady supply of old carpet to feed its recycling process.

Interfaces global energy needs are met by renewable energy. Three factories run completely on renewable energy. At least 24%
of the raw material content is recycled or bio-based. By 2010, Interface had almost achieved its goal of zero waste.

Q3)Identify environmental measures taken by two global organizations along the lines of Interface.

1. Johnson & Johnsons Climate friendly energy policy

a) Energy efficiency improvements in all of our operations
b) Cogeneration: on-site generation of electricity and recovery of waste heat for overall
efficiencies of 80+%
c) On-site renewable energy that produces no Co 2 emissions
d) Renewable electricity purchases
e) Carbon trading and sequestration

2. Sony
Sony Tops WWF Japan Ranking of Effective Corporate Efforts to Address Climate & Energy
Issues in Japan's Electrical Equipment Industry
a)Sony has established "Road to Zero" environmental plan with the aim of reducing its
environmental impact to zero.
b)WWF Japan recognized Sony's long-term vision, degree of difficulty of its reduction
targets for greenhouse gases, and its improvement of data reliability through third-party
verification.