Name: Kimbrely Matsoukas
Position: Sustainability Manager
Business Name: Bentley Prince Street, Inc.
What does your business do/what industry are you in?
Commercial Carpet Manufacturer, based in Los Angeles, CA
What are your “Green” activities (please be specific)?
Timeline of Mission Zero Milestones for Bentley Prince Street<http://www.bentleyprincestreet.com/>
1994: Sustainability focus and philosophy begins at Bentley Prince Street
1995: Start internal recycling program with 17 commodities including office and process waste
1996: Finalize EcoMetrics format and begin measuring water, energy, waste and material use. EcoMetrics assesses how much take, in terms of materials and energy, and what comes out, in the forms of products and waste
1996: Create first green house gas (GHG) inventory, using the World Resource Institute protocol
1997: Begin a relationship with Del Haven Community Center, including creating a program in which they help us recycle yarn on cones
1999: Installed a 100 kW solar array onsite. At the time, it’s the largest privately owned array in the country
2002: Become a charter member of the California Climate Action Registry (CCAR), and the first manufacturer in California to publish a 3rd party verified GHG inventory. CCAR serves as a voluntary GHG registry to protect and promote early actions to reduce GHG emissions by organizations
2004: Win the GEELA- Governor’s Award for Environmental and Economic Leadership. This award is California’s highest environmental honor administered by the California Environmental Protection Agency and the Natural Resources Agency
2005: Develop Scan and UPC to use “tail-outs”. By developing product created from post-production yarn, or “tail-outs,” the small cone of yarn that is left over at the end of a production run, we continue in our commitment to sustainability, and took on the challenge of developing a manufacturing process to re-purpose this waste into a new carpet line that meet’s our exacting quality, design, and style standards
2005: Certify all of our products as Environmentally Preferable using SCS
2005: Certify to ISO 9001 Quality Management System and ISO 14001 Environmental Management System
2006: Create High PerformancePC, making standard broadloom products containing an average of 10% recycled content
2007: Become the first carpet manufacturer to certify its manufacturing facility to LEED-EB Silver
2008: Win the GSA Evergreen Award. A panel of employees from the U.S. General Services Association (GSA) Integrated Workplace Acquisition Center (IWAC) selected Bentley Prince Street as an environmentally-conscientious business partner among all the applicants because of its efforts in recycling, affirmative procurement and waste reduction
2008: Win the CalRecycle Sustainable Business Award. The California Integrated Waste Management Board has honored Bentley Prince Street, Inc., for the extraordinary measures to reduce waste by cutting the amount of trash it produces, conserving resources and reducing landfill waste.
2009: Become the first North American carpet manufacturer to have an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for broadloom carpet An EPD is the only third-party verification system that takes into account the complete life cycle assessment of a product’s environmental impact, encompassing raw materials, production, installation, use and end of use
2010: Become a Save Energy Now Leader company with the Department of Energy and commit to reducing energy intensity by 25% in 10 years
Bentley Prince Street’s Measurable Progress since 1994:
Reduced water use per unit by 52%
Reduced energy use per unit by 40%
Reduced waste sent to landfill by 97%
Reduced net absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 48%
since 1996
Reduced NOx emissions by 66% since 1996
Why did you implement them?
Our sustainability philosophy stems from the epiphany our corporation’s founder and then-CEO Ray Anderson had in 1994. After reading Paul Hawken’s The Ecology of Commerce he committed the corporation to sustainability.
Bentley Prince Street had a jump start on implementing this new philosophy because as a manufacturer in the most environmentally forward thinking state in the country, we were already subject to stringent regulatory requirements.
How hard were these actions to implement?
Changing the culture of a company and incorporating sustainability into the fabric of a company is not an easy task. It takes leadership, vision and commitment from top management and resources to implement tracking systems and new processes. But the results far outweigh the investment.
Incorporating sustainability into Bentley Prince Street’s culture has
yielded cost savings, innovative ideas and generated good will in the
marketplace.
What was the result Financial/Bottom Line, Environmental, Good Will, etc.?
Bentley Prince Street has found that by taking a truly integrated approach to sustainability and incorporating the philosophy in every aspect of our business, we’ve saved money and generated a unique brand of good will in the marketplace more valuable than traditional advertising or marketing. Since 1994 Bentley Prince Street has avoided over $60 million in costs, by implementing waste saving ideas.
Do you have any advice for other small to mid-sized businesses who want to “Go Green”?
We’ve found that a strong commitment from top management is key. Companies of all sizes needed to realize that becoming a truly sustainable business is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes time, effort and real commitment. But, there are a myriad of benefits to be realized from shifting the way a company operates.
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