GREEN FLOORING HONESTY BOX
‘Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.’ Thomas Jefferson might have said it, but Ramon Arratia is certainly a man who agrees. The Sustainability Director at Interface talks with Tomorrow’s Flooring Editor, Grace Holliday, about the flooring industry’s quest for real sustainability, and why we all just need to be a bit more honest.
Sustainability Director at Interface, Ramon Arratia is a man who knows exactly what the industry both wants and needs. This is his fifteenth year of experience in heading up various departments in large corporations, he has written his own book and he conducts speeches on the subject of sustainability more often than the UK reaches 20o
C. All of this is alongside
his principal role as a director at Interface. I sat down with him at last month’s EcoBuild exhibition to find out more.
“Manufacturing is like politics,” Ramon explains. “Politicians are told by their advisors that, say, 20% is an attainable target and so they should just aim for 15%, just in case. When it comes to sustainability, the Government should set the bar of what is and what isn’t acceptable for companies – but they don’t even push themselves.
“Setting a target thrusts companies to enter the unknown,” he adds. Obviously, that’s a scary place to be, but it is undoubtedly the place we must be going. It is estimated by the government that in England, we produce 177 million tonnes of waste every year, which is a figure higher than every other country in the EU. The items that end up in landfill don’t just take a few years to biodegrade. It takes around one million years for a glass bottle, and it is estimated that we will be at our landfill limits in as soon as four years' time.
So what exactly are Interface doing that sets them apart from the rest? Well, in 1996, the company launched their scheme Mission Zero. They were well ahead of the curve in terms of the timing, and began to tackle sustainability issues before it became ‘cool’ to do so. In January 2013, they had achieved 90% carbon reduction and 95% water reduction.
Still, it’s not enough for them. Whilst many other companies have made great strides, a misplaced sense of complacency is always going to be a risk. Ramon is quick to agree with my suggestion that some might fall into this trap, and suggests that one of the best ways to innovate is to: “always be finding better ways to work. Mission Zero fights complacency. We’ve come a long way, but our mission continues; it has to.”
It’s in hearing Ramon’s passion when talking about sustainability and politics that prompts me to ask which business- related law he would pass if given the chance. He is clear on what he would elect, but plugs for two, instead of just the one. “I would ban landfill, because it would force companies to innovate accordingly, and insist on full transparency for all companies when it comes to their plans to tackle sustainability.” It’s a logical, if ambitious goal, but Ramon doesn’t seem fazed
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WE ARE HAPPY TO UTILISE WASTE FROM ANY OTHER INDUSTRY THAT IS GOING UNUSED.
www.tomorrowsflooring.com
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