J+J Flooring Group recently participated in the Alliance for Innovation and Sustainability’s “Zero Waste Strategies” event at Dalton State College.

Russ Delozier, J+J director of sustainability, delivered a presentation titled, “A Journey of 1,000 Miles Starts…How J+J Achieved Zero Waste to Landfill Certification.” Delozier was the featured speaker along with Joel Murphy, Mohawk Industries’ director of global waste stream management. Murphy presented, “The Journey to Zero Waste.”

Delozier’s presentation focused on how the company’s landfill reduction efforts began nearly a quarter of a century ago and some of the sustainable best practices it has taken to reach that milestone. It was in keeping with J+J’s longstanding commitment to sharing as much knowledge as possible with the industry and its customers to spur creative thinking and solutions that can lead to a more environmentally sustainable world.

“It was a pleasure to be a part of this important event and to share J+J’s approach to going landfill free. We hope other companies may benefit from our experiences and the lessons we’ve learned along the way to help them in their sustainable efforts,” said Delozier.

J+J is the first commercial flooring manufacturer in the U.S. to achieve zero landfill free status and have its waste diversion efforts audited and verified by a recognized, third-party certifier of environmental claims, GreenCircle, LLC. The company received its certification in June 2015.

J+J’s landfill free status is not just for manufacturing; it also includes waste collected throughout the company’s administrative headquarters and manufacturing campus in Dalton comprising more than 950,000 square-feet. Waste is collected from all bathrooms, break areas, offices, conference rooms, design studios and other areas.

Through effective use of recycling, repurposing and reusing, J+J Flooring Group diverted 4.2 million pounds of waste material from landfill in 2014, according to the company.

Any industrial debris that cannot be recycled, repurposed or reused is sent to the company’s energy recovery partner, Covanta.