Environmental Initiatives

Our Commitment

The Dixie Group believes that being sustainable is more than maintaining our planet’s environment as it is today. It means creating products and implementing practices that create a better world for the people of today, and for the future generations of our world.

Each company within The Dixie Group family designs and manufactures products that benefit the people who create them, as well as the people who use them. The goal is to find the most effective ways to create those products from the beginning, in order to build a healthier planet for everyone.

Our philosophy is to embrace four basic principles: the sustainable selection and efficient use of raw materials, the conservation of energy, the management of waste, and the recycling of materials.

Environmentally Friendly Components

The Dixie Group believes that creating sustainable products begins by carefully choosing the components that create our products.

Our family of companies partners with suppliers within their 500 mile radius, whenever possible, in order to foster economic and business growth within their local communities.

The primary nylon supplier for the majority of our companies is Invista, whose Antron Legacy and Lumena fibers are both certified as Environmentally Preferable Products (EPP). The EPP rating looks at the Total Environmental Impact of a product throughout its life cycle and compares it to similar products.

Our contract divisions use backing for their carpets which contains BioCel technology as a component that is 50-60% green by weight. In addition, they use backings which contain both pre-consumer and post-consumer materials as backing components.

Wool is used as a primary fiber by our Fabrica and Masland Residential divisions. This fiber is one of the most sustainable on the planet, and has a multitude of benefits as an environmentally preferred component. These naturally inherent properties include: biodegrading at the end of its life-cycle into nutrients that improve soil fertility, the ability to improve indoor air quality, as well as inherent humidity control, sound absorption, and insulation properties within the fiber structure.

Smart Manufacturing Process

The Dixie Group also believes in working smarter to create all of our products, and eliminating wasteful production methods.

Our factories have been recycling scrap metal, fiber waste, cardboard, and plastic sheeting for years. We are proud to say that our Fabrica division won the WRAP Award from the California Integrated Waste Management Board for being recognized as one of the local businesses which had implemented outstanding waste reduction efforts.

We have also initiated programs within our tufting facilities to rewind and recycle short ends of yarn into other production runs, preventing waste which would otherwise end up outside the recycle chain.

Our manufacturing facilities also divert over 140,000 pounds of carpet and yarn waste from landfills each year, for reprocessing into other products, such as carpet padding, automobile parts, and roof shingles.

Consumption of water, electricity and natural gas used in the dyeing and finishing processes has been significantly reduced - in some areas, energy use is down by over 25% since 1999.

When possible, each of the companies within The Dixie Group family attempts to house their inventory within one localized facility, in order to eliminate transportation costs of moving supplies from one facility to another.

Energy Alternatives

We are always searching for alternative energy sources, or ways to reduce energy consumption, in order to conserve the natural resources of our planet.

Since 1993, our California based facilities have participated in Southern California Edison’s I-6 Interruptible program, which means agreeing to stop production and reduce to under 100KW during any time there is an electrical power shortage.

Our contract divisions have committed to an annual purchase of over 22 million kilowatt hours of clean, carbon-neutral wind energy from Colorado-based Renewable Choice Energy. By purchasing REC’s (Renewable Energy Credits), this division is guaranteeing that more renewable energy is released into the national power grid, replacing power that would have otherwise been generated by coal or gas.

The 200,000 sq. ft. roof of the Fabrica Susan Street facility has been replaced with a Title 24 Cool Roof. By using highly reflective materials, cool roofs stay 50-60º F cooler, thereby lowering energy and maintenance costs, improving occupant comfort levels, and increasing the roof’s life cycle.

Masland Contract has recently partnered with The Dow™ Chemical Company to begin using greener energy for powering the manufacturing processes of latex used for carpet backings. The Dow™ LOMAX™ Technology uses reclaimed methane gas from landfills as a renewable energy source, which will result in a significant reduction of green house gas emissions.

Waste water heat is recovered and re-used in a heat exchange system in many of our dye house facilities, reducing energy throughout the dyeing process.

To reduce emissions and conserve energy, our west coast production facilities have converted manufacturing equipment to low NOx (Nitrogen Oxides) technologies and have been fitted with Variable Frequency Drives.

Environmental Initiatives

The Dixie Group is actively working towards creating a greener tomorrow for our future generations. Each of the companies within The Dixie Group family participates in environmental programs, which demonstrate our belief in the importance of creating a healthier planet for everyone.

Our Masland group has initiated the War on Waste program, which has empowered the employees to generate effective ways of eliminating waste. From recycling of paper, plastic and aluminum can, to advancements in the energy efficiency of machinery, this program has generated a respect for nature that will ensure a safer and healthier environment for the future.

Dixie encourages customers to recycle samples through participating in a sample return program. Our contract divisions send each sample order with a self-addressed postage-paid label, for the return, re-use, or recycling of carpet samples generated at any manufacturing facility. Our goal is to reach a return level of 100% for all samples sent out.

Facilities in California send obsolete computer equipment to recycling facilities for closed loop recycling. Mechanical separation, insures minimal environmental impact by converting electronic waste into usable raw materials.

In place of initial custom samples, Masland Contract has instituted recyclable CAD renderings to assist the design community in its selection process before moving to a full-scale custom sample. This measure has eliminated more than 30,000 pounds of yarn waste per year.

The new whitespace division is an e-business, and has eliminated the need for costly architect folders and product literature, the necessity of a large sales force, and the generation of hundreds of strike-off materials. Sample orders for this new group are accompanied by a return envelope, in order to assist in the re-use or recycling of sample materials.

Certified Environmental Products

The Dixie Group is committed to providing verifications for all its products through third party certifications. These certifications provide our consumers with an unbiased evaluation of all our products.

Every product produced by a member of The Dixie Group family is certified by the CRI Green Label Plus program. This certification is designed specifically for carpets and adhesives, and sets the standard for IAQ and ensures that consumers are purchasing the very lowest emitting products on the market. Using scientifically established standards, the Green Label Plus program symbolizes the carpet industry’s commitment to a better environment for living, working, learning, and healing.

The Dixie Group is proud to acknowledge the Gold certification status of its Masland Contract products, manufactured in our Alabama facilities, under the new NSF/ANSI-140 2007 standards. This NSF certification is based on a products total life cycle, from fabrication to end of life. Each product tested must meet performance benchmarks, with additional credit available to manufacturers who have demonstrated an exceptional innovation in sustainability.

LEED Qualifications

All of The Dixie Group products pass the Carpet and Rug Institute’s Green Label Plus Indoor Air Quality Testing Program for carpet.

This certification enables our contract products to qualify for a full point under the LEED Indoor Environmental Quality, Credit 4.3 Low Emitting Materials, Carpet. This is the only full point that any type of carpet provides.

The selection of our contract products can also contribute towards LEED Credits in Indoor Environmental Quality, Credit 4.1 Low Emitting Materials, Adhesive and Material and Resources, Credits 4.1 and 4.2 Recycled Content and Credit 6 Rapidly Renewable Resources.

Creating a Greener Future

The Dixie Group continues to strive towards the creation of a healthier planet for the people of today, as well as our future generations.

Each company within The Dixie Group family is committed to embracing new technologies for more efficient ways to manufacture our products, conserving our natural resources, and creating less waste. We understand that everything we do has an impact on our planet, and we are committed to the creation of the smallest possible footprint on our environment.

Our commitment is to a healthier planet for future generations, and as we progress into the future, The Dixie Group will continue to strive towards the goals we have set. We foresee the possibility of a greener world for everyone, and we are proud to be taking an active role into making that dream into a reality.