Ray Anderson

Towards a sustainable business model

Ray Anderson, Founder and Chairman, Interface Inc

The largest commercial modular carpet manufacturer in the world, Interface Inc has reinvented its business model with the intent of attaining “closed loop recycling.” Mr Anderson has led Interface to embrace whole systems design, and provides an inspiring example of a re-imagined business that also makes pragmatic business sense. Mr Anderson will present the practical steps Interface has taken to move towards a more sustainable basis.

Ray Anderson, an industrial engineer by training, is the founder andchairman, of Interface Inc., the world’s largest commercial modularcarpet manufacturer. Since 1994, he has led a vast change programmewithin Interface to make it sustainable corporation. In 1997, MrAnderson was named co-chair of the President’s Council on SustainableDevelopment. His book Mid-Course Correction: Toward a SustainableEnterprise—The Interface Model, explains both his motivations and thepragmatic steps Interface is taking to achieve its goals.

www.interfaceinc.com

"Business is the largest, most powerful and most pervasive, institution on earth. It's incumbent on business to take the leadership on sustainability."