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The new backing material doubles as carbon storage.
Textile Innovation | Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Interface has achieved carbon neutrality in its full range of carpet tiles and resilient flooring products, and is now planning to launch a cradle-to-door carbon-negative carpet tile in the fall of 2021.
For its latest CQuest carpet backing, the company is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and has added new bio-based materials, including a biocomposite material that stores carbon in materials that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere.
Even if the new carpet tile is not recycled, its backing will still store carbon from the atmosphere for generations.
These bio-based materials are the key to making the backing carbon negative by using the carbon storage properties of plants.
In nature, plants usually release only about half of the carbon dioxide they absorb, but when they die, all the carbon they store is eventually released back into the atmosphere.
Interface interrupts this process by mixing vegetable oils and resins with recycled limestone into a biocomposite material, creating a new backing material that doubles as carbon storage.
"By switching from petroleum-based materials to bio-based materials, we are reducing the carbon content in the natural carbon cycle and conserving any carbon that may be released to make alternative petroleum-derived materials," said Chief Executive John Bradford. Interface's technology officer.
Measured individually, reduced carbon footprints and carbon storage mean that products are net carbon negative-they reduce carbon emissions more than the manufacturing process.
The technology is currently present in three backings-CQuest GB, CQuest Bio and CQuest BioX backings, which contain a higher concentration of negative carbon materials and are non-vinyl backings used in the company’s negative carbon carpet tiles .
The carbon-negative material in the CQuestBioX backing is combined with special yarns and a proprietary tufting process to form a carbon-negative carpet block.
Interface wants its carpet tiles to have a variety of lifespans, and has incorporated recycled content into an integral part of its production process. Customers are encouraged to return products at the end of their useful life through the company's ReEntry program or other local product recycling programs.
Bradford said: "Our goal is to bring products back and recycle them into new products, and further lock carbon in our recycling system." "When we are committed to developing carbon-negative products, we deliberately Our production process is designed to include this recycled material."
Even if the new carpet tile is not recycled, its backing will continue to store carbon from the atmosphere for generations.
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