LOS ANGELES—The California Integrated Waste Management Board has chosen carpet manufacturer Bentley Prince Street, Inc. as the recipient of the 2008 CalRecycle Sustainable Business Award. The award is the highest honor from the Board’s annual Waste Reduction Awards Program (WRAP), and honors a business that has taken extraordinary measures to reduce waste by cutting the amount of trash it produces, conserving resources and reducing waste disposal in landfills.
“As California’s largest commercial carpet manufacturer, we believe we have a responsibility to help move our state toward a zero-waste future as we work toward our Mission Zero goal of eliminating our potential negative impact on the environment by the year 2020,” said Anthony Minite, president of Bentley Prince Street. “We’re honored to receive this award, which acknowledges our continual focus on conserving resources and promoting sustainable business practices throughout every area of our operations.”
Bentley Prince Street was chosen based on a set of criteria developed in cooperation with the business community. Practices evaluated include waste prevention, materials reuse, recycling, recycled-product procurement and employee education. This is also the sixth consecutive year Bentley Prince Street has been recognized for its progressive efforts to reduce waste and conserve resources as a winner of the WRAP award, which recognizes California companies for their commitment to a range of environmentally preferable business programs, including resource-efficient practices and innovative waste reduction, reuse and recycling achievements.
Dedication to Sustainability
“It’s really gratifying to see the positive environmental impact that Bentley Prince Street has achieved by conscientiously building sustainability into every aspect of their business,” said Board Chair Margo Reid Brown. “They have created a model that other companies can emulate.”
According to the Board, Bentley Prince Street distinguished itself with its measures to reduce waste at every stage of the manufacturing process and find numerous ways to build sustainability into its business model. The company’s voluntary waste reduction efforts have saved almost $70 million in cumulative avoided waste costs since 1994. Some of the accomplishments noted by the Board include:
• Bentley Prince Street customers can purchase carpet products where the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions emitted during the lifecycle of the product are offset through the purchase of certified carbon offset credits. Carbon offset credits are monetary investments in clean and renewable energy projects. Each credit represents a set amount of CO2 (a potent GHG) associated with the product purchase that will be offset by investment in a clean and renewable energy project that will reduce GHGs by that set amount.
• All of the electrical energy used at the Bentley Prince Street facility is considered renewable through a combination of green-e certified renewable energy credits and electricity generated from its onsite solar panels. The environmental impacts of its employees’ business travel are also offset.
• All of Bentley Prince Street’s products contain some percentage of recycled content and the company continues to develop innovative products that put waste materials to a higher and better use.
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