Tandus Introduces Carpet Backing Made From Windshield Waste

The Dalton, Georgia-based company is the first to engineer and test the thermoplastic polymer derived from the film layer of shatterproof glass.

Nicholas Tamarin -- Interior Design, 11/20/2009

 
Adhesive scraped from shatterproof glass is repurposed as Ethos carpet backing as shown here on the Landscape Blade Curve design.

Continuing to build its already-impressive green credentials, Tandus unveiled Ethos, a modular carpet backing created through an innovative process that turns industrial waste from the manufacture of car windshields and safety glass into thermoplastic polymer, at the recent Greenbuild 2009.

The Dalton, Georgia-based floorcovering manufacturer collaborated with Kaiser Permanente, the nation's largest non-profit healthcare provider and a Tandus customer, to engineer and test the thermoplastic polymer in high-endurance installations in Kaiser facilities. Tandus can now stake claim as the first company to reclaim the high-performance material that previously had no commercial end-of-life application.

Ethos, derived from the film layer of shatterproof glass, is a non-chlorinated thermoplastic that can be closed-loop recycled repeatedly to divert it from landfills indefinitely. Tandus evaluated Ethos along with 10 other polymer-based materials as an alternative to structured backings such as EVA, polyurethane, polyethylene, polyolefin and bitumen. Ethos was found to exceed the other polymers in terms of material availability, reduction of virgin resources, recyclability and low environmental impact. Additionally, Ethos has extremely low VOCs and contains no phthalates or antimicrobial pesticides.

"Tandus continually engineers floorcovering innovations to provide specifiers with new options in sustainability performance and design," says Glen Hussmann, Tandus president and CEO. "We are proud to bring this ambitious multi-year, multi-million-dollar project to fruition. We believe that this alternative polymer system represents the next evolution in floorcoverings."

Images courtesy of Tandus.