Dalton—Novalis Innovative Flooring released its 2021 Sustainability Report, an important milestone in the manufacturer’s ongoing mission toward creating products that keep humans healthy and the earth habitable. The report outlines the Novalis commitment to responsible manufacturing and highlights the sustainability initiatives the company said it has implemented across its products and global operations.
“There is no longer a push from consumers for products and companies with sustainable practices, but an expectation of overall responsibility and we couldn’t agree more,” said John Wu, CEO of Novalis. “Our customers expect that we not only be sustainable in the way we impact the earth with our products but also sustainable in our manufacturing processes, to be socially responsible and to be transparent with what goes into our products. Novalis is a company founded on sustainable practices and it is just as important to us today as it was over 35 years ago when the company was founded.”
According to the company, highlights from the Novalis 2020 Sustainability Report include:
- From 2019 to 2021, we have nearly doubled the amount of reused scrap in our manufacturing process. Both the US and China manufacturing facilities recycle scrap and re-incorporate it into finished goods, reducing the amount of waste we send to landfill and decreasing our raw material usage by 20%.
- Though our overall energy usage was higher in 2021 following the 2020 shutdowns and production decreases caused by COVID-19, our energy usage per pound of finished goods continued to decline, from 0.3289 kWh in 2020 to 0.3237 kWh in 2021.
- Despite increased production and rising outdoor temperatures, our water usage per pound of finished goods has declined overall.
- In anticipation of the pending European Union Green Deal, we are developing Digital Product Passports (DPPs) for AVA commercial products. A DPP provides useful product- specific information in an easy-to-use format. The passport will be accessed by scanning a QR code on the back of a plank or tile and will help users identify the product composition and what the end-of-life options are so that it can be recycled appropriately. Our DPPs are on track for a 2023 release, one year ahead of the EU’s 2024 deadline.
- We are in the process of assessing our waste streams at our Dalton, manufacturing facility, to divert our waste from landfill and plan to achieve a zero-landfill certification by 2024.
The full report can be found here.