Crossville® is a manufacturer that was ‘born green’ 26 years ago, but our ongoing innovations and sustainable accomplishments prove we’re truly committed to sustained environmental responsibility. Here’s a look at 12 ways we live out our responsible, earth-friendly manufacturing and business practices every single day.
1. We invented the industry’s only way to recycle fired porcelain. In 2009, we solved the major environmental problem facing the tile industry today: recycling of fired materials. Our Tile Take-Back recycling process transforms fired tile into reusable material for new product. Though our method is proprietary, we set no borders around our willingness to recycle product. We “take back” fired tile product from any manufacturer to ensure that less refuse goes to landfills. To date, we’ve recycled more than 6 millions pounds of previously unusable waste.
2. We are the first U.S. tile manufacturer to attain 3rd-party certification for waste recycling processes. Our certification through Scientific Certification Systems (SCS), achieved in 2011, verifies that we recycle approximately 12 million pounds of previously land-filled filtrate, fired tile and pre-consumer sanitary ware. We selected to attain certification by SCS because of the organization’s notably stringent, intensive review processes and impeccably high standards.
3. Crossville is a net consumer of waste. We consume/recycle/reuse more waste material than we produce thanks to our responsible manufacturing processes. We achieved this rare and important status in 2011 as a result of our progressive, focused and highly responsible innovations and programs.
4. All of Crossville’s U.S.-manufactured products contain recycled content. The recycled content ranges from 4% to 50% depending on the product. To be completely accurate and clear, we state our “minimum recycled content” on product packaging and literature (versus stating amounts that are “up to” a certain level, which can seem misleading). This phrasing is often conservative, yet it ensures users know for certain the base standard of recycled content in each products.
5. We have a landmark partnership with TOTO, maker of luxury sanitary ware, to recycle pre-consumer fired porcelain fixtures. This partnership is a first of its kind, as it employs are proprietary process for recycling fired porcelain. This is also how we are able to ensure that every one of our U.S.-made products contains recycled content.
- Crossville maintains a companywide recycling program for all office/production facility paper and plastic waste.
- Crossville encourages employees to bring recyclables to work for collection, as the local county offers no formal recycling effort.
12. Crossville is first among the first to receive Green Squaredsm Certification for its entire porcelain tile product line-up, as well as its manufacturing processes. The Tile Council of North America’s formalized new standard in sustainability for the tile industry in North America—ANSI A138.1, Green Squared is the stringent and powerful measure for tile industry. This program does the following:
- Evaluates products and processes in five key environmental and social categories:
- product characteristics
- manufacturing operations
- corporate governance
- innovation
- end-of-life product management
- Recognizes manufacturers for leadership in environmental stewardship and corporate responsibilty
- Serves as the standard bearer to ensure transparent, full disclosure of sustainability product by product, manufacturer by manufacturer – industry wide
Stay apprised of our ongoing commitment to environmental responsibility by connecting with us on Facebook and Twitter!
