Currently, more than 4.6 billion pounds of carpet are sent to landfills annually. This is a startling figure that led Shaw to action nearly 10 years ago, even before being “green” became a corporate trend. Shaw’s CEO Vance Bell and President Randy Merritt announced the initiation of a comprehensive environmental communications program, the Shaw Green Edge.

The Shaw Green Edge is the collective identification of the hundreds of environmental initiatives undertaken by the company as well as those what will be continuously developed. It demonstrates Shaw’s long-term commitment to preserving the earth and the company’s position as the industry leader in environmental stewardship. In fact, the Shaw Green Edge represents one of the nation’s most aggressive environmental, action-oriented campaigns.

One of Shaw’s most important environmental initiatives to date is the Evergreen Nylon Recycling plant in Augusta, GA. This operation employs patented technology that takes post-consumer carpet and breaks it down to its original material – the actual building block for nylon 6. Shaw can then use this “new” material to make carpet fiber – again and again without any performance degradation or color limitations.

As Shaw’s premium fiber brand and a nylon type 6 fiber, all Anso® nylon products will contain the post-consumer recycled carpet content from this cradle-to-cradle recycling facility.

This cradle-to-cradle process mimics nature’s pattern of recycling and renewal, as cradle-to-cradle production means that synthetic products can be collected and turned to manufacturing of the original product again and again. Cradle-to-cradle is Shaw’s goal, and we are on the path toward achieving it with the Evergreen Nylon Recycling facility and other initiatives we are pursuing.