Line about Industry Affiliation

Perhaps because it is always there when we turn the tap, water is often overlooked or undervalued as a finite natural resource. The truth could not be more opposite. As the earth’s population continues to increase, the strain on fresh water resources increases as well.

At Mohawk, we understand the critical need to manage the intense demands on the world’s supply of fresh water. We also are very much aware that flooring manufacturing – particularly carpet, rugs and tile – is a very water-intensive undertaking. The ability to manage our water intake from all sources, as well as the water we discharge, is paramount to our success across all business units.

We continue to make significant improvement in the amount of water that we use in our processes annually. These annual improvements have combined to yield significant reductions. This achievement has come from a variety of sources. In our Mohawk Flooring Group alone, we have achieved a 50 percent reduction in water use since 2005.

Within our Dal-Tile organization, four of our eight manufacturing plants recover and reuse 100 percent of their process waste water. Belgium enjoys a wet, rainy climate. As a result, Unilin’s offices in Wielsbeke are able to capture rainwater in a one-million-liter tank to supply all of its sanitary water. Unilin intends to add another 750,000-liter tank in the near future. At our Mohawk bottle recycling plant in Georgia, projects to capture and recycle grey water are underway and new water conservation initiatives are being investigated as well.

Though we have made significant progress in water conservation, we intend to realize the potential for even more. As part of this effort, we will invest in the data collection and analysis tools necessary to help us better monitor, manage and report water conservation initiatives.

Goal

We have made great strides in reducing the amount of water used in our manufacturing processes. We commit to a further reduction of our total water use intensity by 25 percent, using 2008 as the baseline year. Our engineering teams are looking at a multitude of water reclamation and recycling programs to help achieve this goal.