Interface Inc.

: Doing Well by Doing Good

This case is prepared as the basis for group discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or
ineffective handling of an administrative situation. The case is written by V D Krishnaveni, Assistant
Professor, PSG Institute of Management, Coimbatore, India, with inputs from Ajith Sankar R N, Assistant
Professor, PSG Institute of Management, Coimbatore, India. The copyright for the case exists with
the case writer. The case has been prepared based on secondary research.
This case study is released to the public domain without cost. While the case writer holds the copyright to
this case study, the reader may reproduce, distribute, publish, and transmit this case study in any form
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Two weeks before he was due to deliver the kickoff speech at a task force meeting in August
1994, Mr. Ray C. Anderson (Anderson), Founder and Chairman of Interface, the global leader in
carpet tile manufacturing, was sweating. The task force, comprising representatives from all of
Interfaces global divisions was meeting up for the first time to see what they were doing for the
natural environment in response to growing consumer interest in that area. Jim Hartzfield, an
associate in the research division, had convened the task force and insisted that Anderson make
the opening speech.
For the twenty-one years prior to this incident, by his own admission, Anderson had not
seriously considered what Interface had taken from the Earth or how they were giving back.
Being in the carpet-tile industry, Interfaces major input was petroleum. Their plants consumed
huge amounts of energy to transform raw materials such as nylon and other synthetic polymers
into modular carpets. Their processes resulted in waste that was sent to landfills1. Large
transportation systems were a part of the value chain2. Even consumers would send the old, used
and worn carpets to landfills. Despite a lot of deliberation, Anderson was not able to come up
with anything better for his speech than the fact that Interface had always complied with the law.
Interface A Brief History
In 1969, as Director of Development, Floor Covering Division at Deering Milliken3, Anderson
had the chance to learn about what was then a brand new product carpet tiles. Anderson fell in
love with the idea of modular carpeting and the opportunities it presented. Offices in the US
were going through a phase of change where they needed to keep upgrading their equipment to
keep up with the latest technology and this implied constant rewiring and reconfiguring of the
office spaces, especially the floors presenting the perfect opening for carpet tiles.
1

The typical types of waste that are created during carpet production would include off quality carpet, scrap,
damaged yarn, trimmings left over after small pieces of carpet tiles have been cut out of large rolls of carpet and
so on.
2
As per Michael Porter, Professor, Harvard Business School, value chain refers to all the activities that add value to
the customer and includes everything from production to after sales service.
3
Deering Milliken was a company that started off as a major player in the textile industry space and later moved
into specialty chemical, floor covering and performance materials sectors. In 1976, it officially changed its name to
Milliken and Company.

People around Anderson were skeptical about the fact that perfectly good broadloom carpets
would be cut into 18 carpet tiles and sold at around twice the price. They did not quite see the
potential that the new product offered, nevertheless Anderson helped Milliken bring it from the
UK to the United States. In 1972, Andersons frustrations at being passed up for a higher post six
years ago and the stifling bureaucracy at Milliken made him think of starting out on his own.
Not only did Anderson have to face up to professional skeptics but even at the personal front, he
did not have the support of his wife who could not understand the driving need for Anderson to
want to give up a perfectly respectable job with a good pay to become an entrepreneur.
Anderson, however did not give up on the chance to take charge of his life. He overcame legal
and financial hurdles and severely strained his marriage in the process of starting a joint venture
with Carpets International (CI)4 UK in 1973 . Andersons investment was US $50,000, 10% of
the US $500,000 that CI had insisted that Anderson raise on the American side. The JV was
known as Carpets International- Georgia, Inc. (with 51% ownership belonging to CI and 49%
with Anderson and his American investors) and had a sister company, Carpets InternationalGeorgia (Sales) Inc. (which handled sales and had 49% ownership belonging to CI and 51% with
Anderson and his American investors). The American investors who backed Anderson gave him
their voting power and because of this sweat equity and his own voting share, he became an
equal partner with CI. In 1982, the two companies were merged into Interface Flooring Systems,
Inc. By 1987, Anderson and his American investors were able to buy out Carpet Internationals
holdings completely .
The year 1996 saw Interfaces sales exceeding US $ 1 billion for the first time. By 1998,
Interface had 29 manufacturing sites and customers in more than 110 countries. They were home
to brands such as InterfaceFLOR, Heuga, Bentley, Prince Street and FLOR. Around 40% of the
carpet tiles used in almost every one of the 110 countries was supplied by Interface. A series of
acquisitions saw them enter the broadloom business, textiles, chemicals and architectural
products like raised access floors. By 2011, the number of employees reached 3,500. It was
billed by Fortune magazine as one of the Most Admired Companies in America(1999) and also
came up in the list of 100 Best Companies to Work For (1998). In 2011, the company had a
net income of around US $ 38 million on a sales exceeding US $ 1 billion (Refer Annexure I for
financial details pertaining to the last five years).
The Epiphany
Moving back to 1994, Anderson knew that people did not want to hear that Interface had always
complied with the law everyone knew they were law abiding. He needed something more
something like an environmental vision. Thats when he happened to chance upon the book
The Ecology of Commerce, by Paul Hawken5. By the time he was halfway through the book,
Anderson knew what he had to do. He realized that the traditional way industries were running
4

Carpets International, UK was the firm that had patented technology about carpet tile manufacturing in 1972.
Paul Hawken is one of Americas foremost authorities in the field of sustainability. He has written books and
articles on the subject and also started related businesses. He is a consultant to companies and the US
Government.
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was ruinous to the Earth and that it was not sustainable. He has not just found the material for his
task force meeting kick-off speech, he even had a new vision for his company.
At the meeting, Anderson quoted Hawken liberally. He explained how the take-make-waste
linear system6 followed by industries where they would take too many resources from the
environment in a harmful manner, create products through processes that are highly polluting
and energy-intensive and create waste that is potentially harmful to future generations is not
sustainable. A model created by Anderson depicting the same is available in Annexure II. He
asked the audience to make Interface a restorative organization, to attain sustainability and
then to go beyond sustainability and help put back more than what they take from the Earth. At
age 60, Ray Anderson had changed from being an ecological plunderer7 to a leading
corporate evangelist for sustainability88.

Mount Sustainability and Mission Zero

Very broadly, Mission Zero seeks to eliminate any negative environmental impacts by Interface
by the year 2020. Sustainability was intended in all dimensions people, process, product, place
and profits. Mission Zero was based on the principles of a consensus document drafted by Dr.
Karl-Henrik Robert (Robert)9, a Swedish oncologist and ratified by ecologists, chemists,
physicists and medical doctors. The principles 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. For billions of years since its formation,
the Earth has slowly absorbed all substances that are toxic to life into it, leaving a habitable
biosphere; but we human beings are changing all that. We are systematically digging out
substances from inside the Earth (such as fossil fuels) and polluting the planet and fast reaching
those levels beyond which they would become a hazard to all living beings. We should not
reduce natural diversity and to follow these principles, we must learn to utilize resources
efficiently.
Anderson likened achieving sustainability to climbing up a mountain one that was higher than
Mt. Everest and one that would take a lot more effort. He called it Mt. Sustainability and he
wanted Interface to reach its pinnacle and prove to other industries that they could do it and
remain profitable at the same time.
Anderson and a global team identified seven fronts which had to be tackled to reach the summit.
6

A linear system refers to a system where the final output does not become an input for any other process. In a
cyclical system, the output of one process becomes the input of another. An example would be the carbon dioxide
cycle in nature where CO2 produced by living beings and other processes is utilized by trees which give out life
supporting oxygen which in turn is utilised by living beings.
7
As per Anderson
8
As per an article in the New York Times dated May 22, 2007
9
Dr. Karl-Henrik Robert is a cancer scientist who did extensive research on different forms of cancer. He realized
that it was not just adults but also very young children who were increasingly being affected by the disease. On
further analysis he realized that it was the unsustainability of our processes that were to blame for the rise in
occurrences in cancer. He has co-founded The Natural Step a non-profit organization that has helped thousands
of companies move towards sustainability since its inception in 1989.

1. Eliminating Waste
Nothing is more basic to the argument than the proposition that disposal of
hazardous wastes is not the root problem. Rather, it is the root symptom. The critical
issue is the creation of toxic wastes
-Paul Hawken, The Ecology of Commerce
The first thing Anderson did was to define waste. According to him, waste was any
measurable cost that went into the product but did not add to customer value. Once waste
was defined, it was easy to identify everything that fit into that definition. So, not only
were scrap or bad-quality carpet considered waste but even mistakes committed by
employees such as misdirected shipments constituted waste. The greenest resources were
considered to be the ones that were never used.
In 1998, a new addition was made to the list of wastes fossil fuels! Interface was
determined that by 2020, it would not take a single drop of oil from the planet to
manufacture carpet tiles. For a company whose primary ingredient was petroleum, this
was considered a huge commitment. Skepticism was high during InterfaceFLORs 25th
anniversary celebrations when Anderson introduced suppliers and other guests to the idea
of Mission Zero 2020.
The next step was to measure waste to set up the baseline values and then come up with
targets to reduce those values. A waste control programme called QUEST (Quality
Utilising Employees Suggestions and Teamwork) was set up. Anderson believed that the
best solutions would come from people who were working on the factory floor and he
was right!
Suggestions poured in from all sites - dirty and damaged yarn could be used in carpet
edges, green tax could be paid, trees could be planted, heat in a water supply system
could be recovered by using a brass nozzle that cost less than US $ 10 (this particular
innovation saved Interface more than US $ 10,000), huge beams could be replaced by
smaller, portable creels (so that lesser thread would be wasted) and so on. Each one of
these suggestions added to millions of dollars of savings for Interface over time and kept
improving the efficiency of the processes.
2. Rendering Emissions Benign
Once processes were made more efficient, the next step was to identify a list of
greenhouse gases, chemical elements like dyes and softeners, trace contaminants like
volatile organic compounds and other potentially harmful emissions getting out through
smokestacks and effluent pipes.
A Toxic Chemical Elimination Team was created to work with suppliers to eliminate
harmful chemicals upstream in the value chain. The team had to come up with ways to

decrease use of CFCs, HFCs and SARA 31310 chemicals and to completely eliminate
volatile chlorinated chemicals. The idea was that irrespective of how lax government
regulations in any country may be, all Interface plants worldwide, will comply with the
most progressive environmental regulations.
Life Cycle Assessments11 of different products was done to identify where the harm was
maximum. A programme was undertaken to systematically close down smokestacks and
effluent pipes. This required redesigning some processes.
The InterfaceFLOR Division in Canada is a case in point for rendering emissions benign.
It completely eliminated use of any chemical on Canadas list of hazardous substances
and use of process water12 by moving away from wet printing of carpet tiles and bringing
down their air emissions by 30% (against 1995 baseline values). These were
accomplished in the context of plant production increasing by 242%. All other plants
from Maine to Europe had similar stories to tell. Three fold advantages emerged
unnecessary materials were eliminated, harmful chemicals were avoided and processes
became more efficient and cost-effective.
Another unique initiative was the voluntary buying of carbon offsets. Interface wanted its
carpets to become carbon neutral even when end users were vacuuming them and
generating emissions. The only way this could be achieved with the current levels of
technology was to calculate the emissions that a carpet would produce from the time of
manufacture to when it would be recycled and to purchase carbon credits that would
offset the emissions. To this end, Interface has been spending about $ 2 million annually
on carbon offsets.
3. Shifting to Renewable Energy
One statistic makes clear the demand placed on the earth by our economic system:
every day the worldwide economy burns an amount of energy the planet required 10,000
days to create. Or, put another way, 27 years worth of stored solar energy is burned and
released by utilities, cars, houses, factories, and farms every 24 hours.
-Paul Hawken, The Ecology of Commerce
All efforts were made to harness solar and wind 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 Solar-Made
carpet!

10

A list of chemicals that require to be reported to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is present in Section
313 of The Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) of 1986.
11
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) refers to a comprehensive evaluation of the environmental impact of every stage of
a product right from extraction of raw material to disposal.
12
Process water refers to any water that is used in the manufacturing/treatment process or other industrial
processes.

The InterfaceFLOR plants at LaGrange (the USA), West Point (the USA), Belleville (the
USA), Craigavon (Ireland) and Scherpenzel (The Netherlands) soon had 100% of their
electricity requirements met by on-site solar photovoltaic cells, Green-e-certified
renewable energy credits and/or wind power. There was also a shift to newer, cleaner and
more efficient production technology. For instance, at LaGrange, methane produced in
the municipal landfills was harnessed to produce energy for its operations and helped it
become climate neutral.
4. Closing the Loop
Interface realized that they needed to move away from the linear system of carpet making
to a cyclical process where old and worn carpets would become inputs for creating new
carpets. It was a challenging task. 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. There could also be a layer of glue holding the carpet to the
floor.
Getting all these materials back from a worn carpet in a usable form seemed like a
herculean task. One that Interface undertook nevertheless. Research went into the
creation and production of new kinds of backing material that used lesser material,
produced lesser waste and was functionally more efficient. PVC was recycled. The tried
and tested means of recovering material from worn carpets was by melting the old carpet
and extruding its contents. This process required heating up to a temperature of about 400
C which in turn required a lot of energy. A new thermoplastic process called CoolBlue
was developed and it did away with such heat intensive extrusions.
A new term negawatts was coined. It represented all those units of electricity that
never got consumed.
5. Resource Efficient Transportation
The next target was the usage of fossil fuels in the supply chain processes. Calculations
revealed that sending out deliveries through rail, instead of trucks, reduced 75% of
BTUs13 per ton mile. Soon deliveries were being made through rail, ship and river barges,
which were more efficient modes of delivery, and trucks were used only in the last mile.
Research went into reducing the weight of the carpet without impairing functionality to
make shipping even more efficient. Interface became a partner at the US EPAs
SmartWay Transport14 program to reduce fuel use and GHG emissions. Wide-base tyres
were used (instead of multiple thin ones), aerodynamic changes were introduced in
trailers, hybrid chilling systems were set up and auxiliary power units were placed in
trucks. All these small changes led to big savings. Interfaces Netherlands operations
13

A BTU refers to the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 pound of water by 1F.
The SmartWay program, initiated in 2004 by the EPA is a public-private collaboration to reduce emissions
resulting from transportation. It incentivizes increased efficiency of the supply chain.
14

witnessed a 25% decrease in shipping costs (for products bound to Italy) after the
changes.
The company fleet was upgraded to cleaner and greener vehicles. Interface joined several
programmes such as Trees for Travel15 to offset carbon16 produced through travel.
Employees were given cash rewards for shifting to less polluting vehicles.
6. Sensitizing Stakeholders
Interfaces stakeholders comprise its employees, customers, investors, suppliers and just
about anybody else with an interest in Interface. Interface wanted to set the industry
standards when it came to sustainability and it wanted to draw all its stakeholders into
its circle of influence.
The idea was that if Interface could remain financially sound and viable while being
sustainable, it would inspire others to emulate its environmental footsteps.
7. Redesigning Commerce
Current commercial practices are guided by the promise that we can stay the way we
are, live the way we have, think the thoughts of old, and do business unburdened by real
connections to cycles, climate, earth, or nature. Restorative economics challenges each
of these assumptions.
-Paul Hawken, The Ecology of Commerce
Interface made a shift from selling products to selling services. It realized that what
people wanted is not a carpet but an aesthetically appealing interior with less noise from
walking, foot comfort, durability, cleanliness and flexibility. This did not require the sale
of a carpet. So, Interface embarked on a bold move to change its business model the
very core of how they were making money. Carpets were leased instead of being sold.
Interface would handle carpet maintenance and take back the worn carpet after use and
replace it with something new. The Evergreen Lease was thus created.
The benefits of this new model were many. The customer got new carpet at zero capital
cost and Interface had a steady supply of old carpet to feed its recycling process. Only
those sections of carpets that were most worn out (usually this was only 20% of the floor
covering) had to be replaced, allowing the remaining carpet to be used for longer periods
of time.
All these are just a few of the initiatives undertaken by Interface to reach the Mt. Sustainability
summit. Interface is extremely transparent with regards to its progress in different areas such as
energy, climate, waste, facilities, transportation, design process, manufacturing, innovations and
15

Trees For Travel is a Dutch initiative where people and companies can offset the GHG emissions of their air travel
by paying the foundation to plant and maintain forests.
16
Carbon offsetting refers to credits gained for the reduction in emission of carbon dioxide or its equivalent in
greenhouse gases.

culture (refer Annexure III). A 2009 article published in Greenbiz gave an insight into some
statistics. GHG emissions have gone down by 71% compared to 1996 values due to actual
reductions and offsets. Energy consumption per unit of production is down by 44% and 72% of
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.
About Ray Anderson
..Part cheerleader, part scold, part dreamer[Anderson is] the rarest of hybrids: a born-again
green industrialist..
-Fortune Magazine
Anderson was born on 28 July, 1934 as the third son of William Henry Anderson and Ruth
McGinty Anderson. His mother had been a teacher and was instrumental in making Ray love
books. Rays other passion was football.
A football scholarship saw Ray in Georgia Tech where, after a brief stint in aeronautical
engineering and textile engineering, he finally chose industrial engineering and graduated with
honours in 1956. For the next 17 years he worked in different capacities at Milliken and
Callaway before starting Interface .
He has received several awards and accolades for his work on sustainability. In 1996, he won the
Inaugural Millenium Award from Global Green and was named Entrepreneur of the Year by
Ernst and Young. He was one of Times Heroes of the Environment in 2007. In 2010, he won the
Lifetime Achievement Award from GreenLaw, the Inaugural Global Sustainability Prize from
the Univeristy of Kentucky and the Sustainability Award from the Womens Network for a
Sustainable Future among many others. He was awarded 12 honorary doctorates.
He died in 2011 after a prolonged battle with cancer.
The Way Forward
There are many challenges facing Interface. Not only do employees have to ensure sustainable
practices in their factories but also make sure that suppliers follow sustainable practices.
Interface is still relying on complex and costly inventions and innovations that are yet to
materialize to move beyond the low hanging fruit in sustainability. Behavioural changes among
employees and motivational levels have to be sustained, if Interface is to move to the next level.
According to Lindsay James, Director, Strategic Sustainability, InterfaceFLOR, Chicago and
Mikhail Davis, Manager, Strategic Sustainability, InterfaceFLOR, San Francisco , the biggest
challenge, however will be to keep the efforts on track after Andersons death. They say, 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

Annexure I

Source: Interface Inc. 2011 Annual Report

Annexure II

Typical Company of the 20th Century

Adapted from Typical Company of the 20th Century, Pg. 109, Mid-Course Correction
The input for most industries comes primarily from the lithosphere and to a small extent through
natural materials in the biosphere. The industrial processes however, end up releasing effluents
and emissions only into the biosphere. In some cases it is released into the air, in some, into
water and in most cases into landfills where some materials can last for centuries without
breaking down.
Employees, investors and customers come from community and industries are connected to the
Government as they are bound by its policies and legislations.
The most glaringly obvious omission in this model of the 21st century company is that there is no
sustainability link anywhere.

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Annexure III

Renewable Energy Use (% of Total Energy Use)

35
30

26.6

28.3

29.8

30

31.2

25
20
15.2

17

15
11
10
5
0

1.5

3.3

4.3

6.2

5.5

5.9

0
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
% of Total Energy Used

Moving Average Trendline

Source:www.interfaceglobal.com/Sustainability/Our-Progress/Energy.aspx

Waste to Landfill from Carpet Factories

16
14
12

15
12.9
10.6

10
8

8.7
7.7
6

4.4

4.9

4.9

5.4

5.3

5.1

4.9
3.4

3.6
2.6

2
0
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Pounds in Millions

Moving Average Trendline

Source: www.interfaceglobal.com/Sustainability/Our-Progress/Waste.aspx

11

Recycled and Biobased Material Use At Interface

50

44

45

40

40

36

35
30

25

25
20

16

24

19

15
10
5

8
3

0
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
% of Total Raw Material Used

Moving Average Trendline

Source: www.interfaceglobal.com/Sustainability/Our-Progress/Manufacturing.aspx

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References
1. Anderson, R. C. (1998). Mid-Course Correction : Toward A Sustainable Enterprise. White River
Junction: Chelsea Green Publishing.
2. Anderson, R. C., & White, R. (2009). Confessions of a Radical Industrialist. London: Random
House.
3. Hawken, P. (1993). The Ecology of Commerce. New York: HarperCollins.
4. Interface. Retrieved February 07, 2013, from http://www.interfaceglobal.com
5. Levering, R. et al (1998) The 100 Best Companies to Work For in America. Retrieved February 16,
2013, from http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1998/01/12/236444/
6. Executive on a Mission: Saving the Planet. (2007, May 22). The New York Times
7. Kaye, L. (2012) Ray Anderson, One Year Later: A Suppliers Perspective. Retrieved January 13,
2013, from http://triplepundit.com/2012/08/ray-anderson-interface-aquafil/
8. Aston, A. (2012) Dan Hendrix: The Future of Interface is Bright and Greener than Ever. Retrieved
March 02, 2013, from http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2012/01/25/dan-hendrix-futureinterface-bright-greener-ever?page=full
9. James, L. & Davis M. (2012) Mind the Void: Interface After Ray. Retrieved March 04, 2013, from
http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2012/01/23/mind-void-interface-after-ray?page=full
10. Greenbiz Staff. (2009) Interface Releases Environmental Stats From 2008; Continues Positive
Trends. Retrieved April 02, 2013, from http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2009/04/21/interfacereleases-environmental-stats-2008-continues-positive-trends
11. Greenbiz Staff. (2010) Interface 1 Percent Shy of Zero Waste Operations. Retrieved March 21,
2013, from http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2010/03/23/interface-1-percent-shy-zero-wasteoperations?page=full
12. Kinkead G & Gunn E. P. (1999, May 24). In the Future, People Like Me Will Go to Jail: Ray
Anderson is on a mission to clean up American businesses-starting with his own. Can a Georgia
carpet mogul save the planet?. Fortune Magazine
13. Goldstein, A. (2013) Interfaces plan to vacuum carbon out of carpet manufacturing. Retreived
December 31, 2013, from http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2013/12/26/interface-plan-carbonoffsets-carpet-manufacturing?page=full

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