Interface to launch new carpet tile collection

A new modular carpet collection, Net Effect , is inspired both by the ocean's life-giving power and its plight – marine life and habitats that are endangered by discarded fishing nets, acidification, over-fishing, pollution and climate change.

Net Effect will debut at NeoCon 2013 in Interface's Chicago Merchandise Mart showroom, #10-136, and roll out globally throughout 2013. Manufacturing will take place locally in Interface's North American, European, and Asia-Pacific facilities. This uniform global production allows for specification on six continents.

The collection was born of Net-Works, an innovative global business and conservation association between Interface and the conservation charity the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). Net-Works was launched in the Danajon Bank area of the Philippines in 2012 to tackle two distinct issues: first, to address the growing environmental problem of discarded fishing nets in some of the world's poorest coastal communities, and second, to help solve the problem of finding a viable waste stream to feed the company's ambitious post-consumer nylon recycling goals.

Working closely with Aquafil, a key Interface supplier that has refined the technology to recycle nylon waste into new nylon carpet fiber, and NGO Project Seahorse Foundation for Marine Conservation Inc, Net-Works is advancing the company's goal of closed-loop manufacturing. End of life fishing nets recovered from the fishing industry supply chain represent some of the world's cleanest and most abundant supply of post consumer nylon, the same raw material as carpet yarn.

Developing a local reclamation system for these nets, Net-Works is improving residents' livelihoods and providing the impetus for new community banking institutions that offer long-term solutions to poverty.

"Interface's business is built around inspiration, innovation and the pursuit of true sustainability – economic, environmental and social," said Chip DeGrace, executive creative director for Interface. "Products like Net Effect –- and programs like Net-Works – demonstrate how creative thinking can change the way we do business and move us closer to the ultimate goal of being a restorative enterprise."