RAY

ANDERSON
MINA ALNUIMI – SARA ALZAABI – HANEEN
ELTAWIL-MALAK DAKAK-AYCHA - HADEEL
His business ◦ Known for Founder and chairman of Interface Inc.
◦ Ray C. Anderson was the founder and chairman of
Interface Inc., one of the world's largest
manufacturers of modular carpets for commercial
and residential applications and a leading producer
of commercial broadloom and commercial fabrics.
He was known in environmental circles for his
advanced and progressive stance on industrial
ecology and sustainability.

Anderson founded Interface in 1973 to produce the first

free-lay carpet tiles in America. The interface is one of
the world's largest producers of modular commercial
floorcoverings, with sales in 110 countries and
manufacturing facilities on four continents.
Environmental focus
◦ Anderson’s modular carpets were compartmental and easily replaced, in contrast
to regular carpets, whose disposal generated a significant amount of waste. But
Interface’s innovative approach remained an ecological inconvenience, as
manufacturing carpets in any format still involved the inevitable usage of fossil
fuels.

◦ Anderson took on the challenge of transforming a business into an inherently

sustainable entity, while simultaneously maintaining the spirit of expansion and
free enterprise. Calling his project “Mission Zero,” he set ambitious goals for
Interface: zero waste, zero impact, and zero environmental footprint by the year
2020. For Interface, Anderson explained, the goal was to "eventually [operate] our
petroleum-intensive company in such a way as to take from the earth only what
can be renewed by the earth naturally and rapidly, not another fresh drop of oil,
and to do no harm to the biosphere.
sustainability
commitments &
success story
◦ The interface has since gone on to cut greenhouse gas
emissions by 82 percent, fossil fuel consumption by 60
percent, waste by 66 percent, and water usage by 75
percent—all while producing new materials, and
manufacturing processes, doubling earnings, and raising
profit margins.

◦ For Anderson the business mogul, sustainability was about

more than “going green”; it meant engendering a purpose,
putting ideas into action, and inspiring later generations to
continue in his footsteps. For Anderson the conscientious
entrepreneur, sustainability meant creating a business that
would indubitably last in the long run: investing in and
providing for the people of the earth.