NFTasked laminate flooring manufacturers to weigh in on the issue of sustainability. It is hard to argue that ‘green’ has become an increasingly important aspect of the industry, but how does this translate to a product that is a composite of natural and manmade materials? Here is what they had to say.

NFTasked laminate flooring manufacturers to weigh in on the issue of sustainability. It is hard to argue that ‘green’ has become an increasingly important aspect of the industry, but how does this translate to a product that is a composite of natural and manmade materials? Here is what they had to say:


“The big deal in laminate is that we use everything in a tree but the bark and leaves when we make the boards. So percentage-wise, we’re using dramatically more of the tree than  we would in, say, a hardwood floor.”

-Milton Goodwin, Armstrong



“Mannington Laminate contains 74 percent pre-consumer (post-industrial) recycled content by total product weight. The decorative papers are printed with water-based low-VOC ink systems and the melamine resin system is also water-based.”

-Al Boulogne, Mannington Mills

 

“We currently use 75 percent post industrial recycled content in the making of our laminate core boards which help in the LEED specification.”

- Dennis Szczybor, Mohawk



“Because laminate flooring is made primarily from recycled wood and other wood derivatives, it is an ideal choice for the environmentally conscious.”

- Juan Flores, Faus



“Because we can effectively imitate any endangered material, we can give the consumer the look they want without a negative environmental impact.”

- Roger Farabee, Quick-Step



“Shaw laminates use 98 percent less newly harvested wood than conventional engineered hardwood products and feature EnviroCore, a high-density-fiber (HDF) core derived from recycled wood fiber. In addition, 100% of the post-industrial laminate manufacturing waste from the company’s Ringgold facility is diverted from the landfill and used as fuel, mainly for Shaw’s Waste-to-Energy facility.”

- Eric Erickson, Shaw Industries



“At Alloc and Berry Floor, we’ve been quite ‘green’since our inception. Yet now that this issue has become part of the collective consciousness, we are voicing our commitment to environmental practices more strongly than ever.”

- Cindy Thornton, Alloc and Berry Floor



“All of our floors are manufactured using recycled, residual wood from lumberyards and packaged using 100% recycled cartons. By using these recycled material as well as renewable wood types like spruce and pine, our flooring can meet the demands of a public that is growing more and more eco-conscious.”

- David Small, Pergo



“We've noticed in the last 3-4 months that laminate flooring products are meeting green specifications, and we think this is a topic that will become more and more important in the future.”

- Ken Peden, Kronotex USA