Lees Manufacturing Facility, Glasgow, VA
Lees' manufacturing facility -- located in the heart
of Virginia's pristine Shenandoah Valley -- is monitored
by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality,
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and federal
land managers from the National Forest Service. |
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Sustainable Manufacturing
Lees Carpets is committed to sustainable product design and manufacturing / operating
procedures. This commitment began with the founding of the company, more than 150 years ago.
It continues today and will be an integral part of our future.
Our commitment is grounded in our core principles -- to be a responsible corporate citizen
while providing superior value to customers. Many fundamental practices of the sustainability
concept have long been standard procedure at Lees.
Lees environmental management system identifies "Significant Aspects"
-- activities that impact the environment in terms of energy and water
usage, solid waste and emissions -- for each manufacturing process.
Improvement is measured by Aspect, every year. Substantial improvements
of Aspects were achieved during 1995-2003, as noted in the summary
chart. To achieve these improvements Lees has made major investments
in state of the art technologies. Technologies that not only improve
the environmental performance of our manufacturing facility, but also
allow Lees to create new, higher performing, environmentally sound
products. These improvements will continue, for our commitment continues,
and our principles remain unchanged. From supply chain through end-of-useful
life carpet reclamation, Lees is vigilant in evaluating the environmental
footprint of itself, its raw materials suppliers and its partners.
| In recent years, Lees has: |
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Reduced dependence on non-renewable resources in the supply chain |
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Cut fossil fuel dependence by approximately 10 million pounds annually |
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Replaced non-renewable raw material with a forestry-based product purchased from a sustainable forester |
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Received more than 11% of its electrical energy from renewable hydroelectric sources in 2001 |
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Invested in manufacturing upgrades that promote sustainability |
Lees has made great strides in reducing water consumption during the manufacturing process, while recovering and recycling post-industrial yarns and dye stuffs. Lees has also been quite successful in reducing total solid waste by-products. Listed below are the other ways we're striving for better sustainability. |
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Lees Advanced Tufting Technology: Produces a denser carpet pile using fewer raw materials; reduced energy use by 10%, despite a dramatic increase in manufacturing volume |
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Lees Recovered Yarn Program: Recycles post-industrial fiber waste back into face fiber; contributes to Lees' promise of environmental responsibility |
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Lees
Accelerated Design System: Lees'
virtual carpet sampling software application provides
designers with large scale, highly accurate digital prints
of their designs before ordering samples. This smart use
of technology reduces the turnaround time and environmental
impact of the design process.
Lees Accelerated Design System decreases energy used in
the sampling process; significantly decreases the raw
materials used in sample production; improves overall
manufacturing efficiency by reducing small quantity runs;
and, substantially reduces the waste associated with rejected
samples.
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