Commitment saves landfill space and furthers KB Home sustainability
goals
KB Home (NYSE:KBH), one of America’s largest homebuilders, today
announced that it has teamed up with Shaw to offer only environmentally
friendly recyclable carpet in all its new homes. These carpets are made
of Nylon 6, the only material capable of being continuously recycled
into dyeable carpet fiber. Every home that uses recycled carpet fiber
saves approximately 108 cubic feet of landfill space and also prevents
emissions equivalent to 1,700 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2)*.
This decision furthers KB Home’s commitment to building more
sustainable, environmentally friendly homes. While KB Home already
offers Shaw low-VOC carpet that meets the Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI)
Green Label Plus standards, all carpet offered in homes that begin
construction after June 30, 2009 will also be recyclable.
“This is one more example of how KB Home is exploring all aspects of our
homes and finding ways to use more environmentally friendly products
that are good for our customers and our planet,” said Jeffrey Mezger,
president and chief executive officer of KB Home. “As a national
homebuilder, we take seriously the opportunity we have to change the way
new homes are built today for the sake of a better tomorrow. Shaw has
been an outstanding partner to work with in our company-wide commitment
to sustainability.”
KB Home homebuyers can now choose between Shaw’s Anso® nylon carpets and
other Nylon 6 carpets, both of which are recyclable using a
cradle-to-cradle manufacturing process that converts old carpet into a
raw material that can be used to make new carpet. This practice mimics
the renewal process in which natural products can be returned to the
earth for decomposition. Shaw’s Anso nylon products also contain
post-consumer carpet content derived from its recycling operation. Shaw
currently recycles 120 million pounds of Nylon 6 carpet each year and
was recently recognized by the EPA and the Carpet America Recovery
Effort (CARE) with the EPA/CARE Innovations in Carpet Recycling Award
for the company’s Evergreen Nylon Recycling facility and leadership in
post-consumer carpet recycling.
“We applaud the decision by KB Home to ensure that carpets in all of its
homes are recyclable in a cradle-to-cradle process,” Shaw CEO Vance Bell
said.
