Norris, Tenn. — The Ijams Nature Center in eastern Tennessee recently recognized a need for a rejuvenation of its Visitor Center. The park decided it wanted a more sustainable building. To fit with that idea, the park opted for polished concrete flooring from Perfect Polish.

“Ijams Nature Center had been searching for the right floor treatment for its Visitor Center for many years — one that would be affordable, practical, improve the aesthetics and be easy to clean,” said Paul James, executive director of Ijams Nature Center. “The new [polished concrete] floors have dramatically improved the quality and feel of the Visitor Center, particularly the exhibit hall which provides a new inspirational foundation on which to build a new series of exhibits and enhancements.”

Polished concrete flooring recycles existing concrete slabs to transform them into finished surfaces. It also provides such environmental benefits as improved ambient lighting, no VOCs and reduced waste.

Visit www.perfectpolishonline.com for more information.

Calhoun, Ga. — Mannington Commercial announced an environmental initiative to reclaim and recycle post-consumer vinyl composition tile (VCT) to help reduce the more than 1 billion pounds of VCT disposed of in America’s landfills each year.

Partnering with a regionally based reclamation company, Mannington is reclaiming post-consumer tile recovered during the renovation of major regional facilities that are large end-users of VCT. As part of Mannington’s LOOP program, the construction waste is delivered to Mannington’s manufacturing facilities in Salem, New Jersey, where Mannington recycles the tile and incorporates it as post-consumer content into new premium tile.

“The volume of VCT going to landfills is an industry-wide challenge,” says Dave Kitts, Mannington’s Vice President – Environment. ”This partnership exemplifies the sort of smart thinking that is reshaping manufacturing today. It’s a simple business equation of supply and demand, built around our commitment to close the materials loop.”

With this investment, beginning June 1 of this year, Mannington’s premium tile products will contain 25 percent post-consumer content.

For more information, visit manningtoncommercial.com.

Lansdowne, Va. — The Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) honored four innovators from the growing world of post-consumer carpet recycling at the organization’s seventh Annual Conference held at the National Conference Center in Lansdowne, Va.

“These awards recognize the exceptional innovation, perseverance and investment made by our winners,” said CARE executive director Georgina Sikorski. “CARE’s goals of finding market-based solutions for post-consumer carpet and diverting carpet from landfills cannot be achieved without the kind of vision and commitment exemplified by the individuals and companies we honor this year.”

The EPA/CARE award co-winners were Shaw Industries’ Evergreen Nylon Recycling facility and the Los Angeles Fiber Company and its president Ronald Greitzer. As the organization’s Recycler of the Year, CARE recognized Mohawk Industries for its GreenWorks Post-Consumer Recycling Center. For his exemplary leadership on the CARE Board, serving as chairman of various CARE committees, Brendan McSheehy Jr. was named CARE Person of the Year.

Visit www.carpetrecovery.org for more information.

Dalton, Ga. — Commercial floorcovering manufacturer Tandus has recognized Chippewa Valley Dakota High School with its Environmental Stewardship Award for the school’s commitment to recycling. Tandus and Dakota High School worked with local businesses to participate in this recycling effort to reclaim approximately 4,000 yards of flooring through Tandus’ recycling program for its C&A Floorcoverings brand. FloorCraft Floor Covering Inc., Barton Malow Construction and Wakely Associates, Inc. Architects were the local companies whose collaboration helped in the success of the program.

“We appreciate Tandus for providing us with the opportunity to recycle the old flooring as we install new in this facility,” said Mr. Jeff Atkins of Barton Malow. “It saves us from contributing to the landfills and we can do our part to help the environment and be a green organization.”

Since the inception of its closed-loop recycling program, Tandus has diverted 145 million pounds of carpet and waste materials from landfills and incinerators, and turned it into 100 percent recycled content backing for its flooring, the company reports.

Visit www.tandus.com for more information.

Oscoda, Mich. — Oscoda Plastics, Inc., manufacturer of PROTECT-ALL Commercial Flooring, has donated more than 1,500 square feet of interlocking tiles to the Community Center of St. Bernard located in the St. Bernard Parish, La.

The community center is dedicated to empowering families who are still struggling to rebuild in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina by providing them with local access to essential recovery resources, including canned food, clothing, hot meals, medical care, legal aid, Internet access and public phones.

“We are grateful to Oscoda Plastics for their generous donation which will enable us to expand our facilities so that we will not have to limit the amount of assistance we give or begin turning families away,” said Iray Nabatoff, executive director of the Community Center of St. Bernard. “The need for these basic services is growing as the economy continues to worsen, with the number of clients who use our food pantry increasing by 18 percent during the first three months of 2009.”

PROTECT-ALL is manufactured from 100 percent pre-consumer recycled vinyl. Annually, more than six million pounds of vinyl waste is recycled into PROTECT-ALL and kept out of the nation’s landfills, the company reports.

Visit www.oscodaplastics.com for more information.

San Francisco — Smith & Fong Co. announced the launch of Sideways, the company’s first line of hardwood flooring. The new line comes in ½” x 5” x 47 ½” engineered click-lock planks, featuring a rotary-cut hardwood veneer face. Developed for both commercial and residential applications, the entire line is urea formaldehyde-free and FSC-certified, the company reports. Sideways is manufactured in America from indigenous hardwood species of maple, beech, birch, cherry and hackberry. plyboo.com.

Smith & Fong | Reader Service No. 216

Los Angeles — Contract market carpet designer and manufacturer Atlas Carpet Mills announced Navarre. The new carpet line is constructed with Antron Legacy type 6,6 nylon, is an all-loop pattern and manufactured with 10 percent of total weight derived from post-consumer recycled content. Navarre has a palette of 64 colorways. www.atlascarpetmills.com.

Atlas Carpet Mills | Reader Service No. 217

Farmington, NY — Pioneer Millworks engineered flooring offers a wear layer that is 100 percent FSC-certified reclaimed wood from old barns and factories or 100 percent FSC-certified fresh wood from USA forests with sustainable practices. A non-toxic, no-VOC glue is used to adhere the wear layer to the substrate. According to the company, this platform contains no less than 70 percent FSC content and usually 80 percent or higher. It’s made with no added urea formaldehyde or VOCs. Pioneer Millworks operates on 100 percent wind energy. www.pioneermillworks.com.

Pioneer Millworks | Reader Service No. 218