Carpet-tile manufacturer Interface aims to achieve negative carbon emissions by 2040, according to sustainability leader Jon Khoo.
The brand has set itself an ambitious pathway to becoming a net remover of atmospheric carbon in less than 20 years. It claims all its products are carbon neutral and it launched its first carbon-negative carpet earlier this year.
"Our mission is called Climate Take Back, which is to run our business in a way that reverses global warming," said Khoo, who is head of sustainability for Europe, Australia, Asia, and Africa at the American brand.
"Our big long-term aim is to be carbon negative by 2040. We're currently working on our science-based targets."
Above: Jon Khoo is sustainability leader at carpet brand Interface. Top: Interface produces a range of carpet tiles it claims are carbon-negative Interface is one of the world's largest manufacturers of carpet tiles. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it has annual revenues of over $1 billion and employs more than 4,000 people worldwide.
The company was founded in 1973 by industrialist Ray Anderson, who came across carpet tiles in Europe and took the idea home to the USA.
Interface founder set the goal of having zero negative impact by 2020
Anderson became a committed environmentalist in 1994 when a customer asked what the petrochemical-dependent company was doing to address its impact on the planet. He was unable to answer the question.
He later read The Ecology of Commerce by environ...