At Milliken, we’re committed to making a positive impact by building a more sustainable company and a more sustainable world. Two years ago, we launched our first Corporate Sustainability Report that established our 2025 sustainability goals. Last year, we focused on laying the groundwork for our sustainability journey by putting in place governance and operational processes to help us meet the moment and advance our progress towards these sustainability targets.
We invite you to join us on this journey by learning more about what we did in 2019 to make an impact for our people, our products, and our planet.
Highlights of 2019 included signing the United Nations Global Compact, which is the largest global sustainability initiative for corporations, as well as committing to the CEO Pledge for Diversity and Inclusion. 2019 also marked the 13th consecutive year that Milliken was named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies—an honor curated by the Ethisphere Institute. Finally, we saw our employees log more than 15,000 volunteer hours in a newly launched volunteer portal, which reinforces our belief that even small efforts ripple outward to make tremendous change possible.
Without a doubt, our progress in 2019 is highlighted by one word—together. Together, our divisions are boldly striving to uphold Milliken’s corporate sustainability goals through visionary initiatives of their own.
Milliken’s Floor Covering Division
To develop holistically responsible flooring collections, our floor covering division is expanding the use of the Life Cycle Assessment analysis. We are increasing the accuracy of current data by doubling Environmental Product Declarations and by asking suppliers for more transparency. More accurate data allows the division to develop more sustainable flooring products from start to finish, since each stage of the product’s “life cycle” is being optimized to reduce its impact on our environment.
Milliken’s Textile Division
Polartec, a Milliken brand, uses recycled polyester fiber in many of its fabrics. By incorporating rPET, Polartec has helped divert 1.5 billion bottles from landfills to date.
Milliken’s Chemical Division
Scott Tenor, Milliken principal scientist, and John Laymen, founding inventor of PureCycle Technologies, teamed up to find a solution to solve a global plastic waste problem. This collaboration, enabled by key Milliken Chemical plastic additives, hopes to improve the recycling process for polypropylene (PP) plastics. Traditionally a single-use plastic, PureCycle returns used PP plastic to a near virgin-like resin, increasing recycling opportunities across numerous industries. The first PureCycle plant is expected to purify and recycle 119 million pounds of PP plastic to produce 105 million pounds of useable resin each year.
Milliken’s Healthcare Division
Milliken acquired Andover Healthcare, a leading manufacturer of cohesive bandages and compression systems that serves the medical, animal health, and sport medicine markets. Through this acquisition, Milliken’s Healthcare Division aligns itself with a respected brand that will help us advance and improve patient outcomes globally—particularly in the treatment of challenging and chronic wounds.
Since implementing our first recycling policy, we are tackling our sustainability goals as a united team—now and into the future. Together with our associates, customers, and communities, we see the opportunities and will use our guiding value of sustainability to impact our world. By each doing our part, we can help build a healthier world for generations to come.
Source: Milliken
Moving Forward Together: Message of Milliken President & CEO Halsey Cook