Interface Carpet Company Ray Anderson

He shook the foundations of the petroleum intensive carpet manufacturing industry by declaring that interface was committed to becoming the world s first environmentally sustainable and ultimately restorative company.

Interface carpet company ray anderson.

As the father of two daughters he says this was my third child 1978. Interface was founded in 1973 by ray anderson whose decade and a half in the carpet trade had led him to create one of the first u s. Anderson set our company and our people on a path to mission zero with a pledge to reduce our negative impact on the environment and live zero every day. Anderson who founded the carpet company interface died on monday.

We remember this week ray anderson one of the earliest and biggest voices for the role that business must play in sustainability efforts. Manufacturers of carpet tiles also known as modular carpet or carpet. He proved to the world that swinging for the sustainability. It awakened him to the urgent need to set a new course for interface.

Ray berard is a senior vice president in interface s r d division overseeing a dozen efforts to design carpet and fabric that can be pulled apart and turned into carpet again. When reading greenbiz or any of the other numerous media channels that cater to the field of sustainable business it s easy to forget that such a notion scarcely existed 20 years ago. In 1994 our founder and visionary ray c. Twenty years ago last week interface founder and ceo ray anderson spoke the word sustainability for the first time.

Ray anderson founds interface as a joint venture with carpets international plc a british company to enter the emerging carpet tile market emptying his personal savings accounts and drawing investments from friends. Mission zero a commitment to eliminate any environmental impacts by the. Anderson july 28 1934 august 8 2011 was founder and chairman of interface inc one of the world s largest manufacturers of modular carpet for commercial and residential applications and a leading producer of commercial broadloom and commercial fabrics. At his carpet company ray anderson has increased sales and doubled profits while turning the traditional take make waste industrial system on its head.

In a gentle understated way he shares a powerful vision for sustainable commerce. Ray anderson founder of interface and green business pioneer died monday from cancer at the age of 77 leaving an important legacy. He was known in environmental circles for his advanced and progressive stance on industrial ecology and sustainability. Hear the story directly from ray in the video below.