Press Releases and Articles from ANEW and Contributors

Bentley Prince Street Partners with ANEW Foundation in Innovative Social Sustainability™ Program Designed to Keep Carpet Out of Landfills

Program Recycles or Repurposes Surplus Carpet By Donating to Community Learning Programs

LOS ANGELES, CA – [March 28, 2007] – Bentley Prince Street has taken another step in its Mission Zero™ sustainability commitment through a unique partnership with the Asset Network for Education Worldwide (ANEW) Foundation, a charitable 501 (c)(3) organization that collects and repurposes surplus furniture, fixtures and equipment for the underserved in our community and other groups in need. Their goal? Create a program that unites environmental sustainability with social responsibility -- keeping carpet out of our overflowing landfills while, at the same time, helping community learning programs who can benefit from repurposed carpet.

Through this partnership, Bentley Prince Street works with ANEW to identify and assess surplus carpet – carpet that for one reason or another companies want to replace. The team will then determine whether the life of the carpet can be extended by repurposing it in other settings, such as non-profits, community centers, learning programs and public agencies. If not, Bentley Prince Street will ensure the carpet is recycled through its ReEntry® program.

The program is a win-win from every perspective. Carpet is kept out of landfills. Companies looking to replace their carpet can avoid costly landfill disposal fees, receive tax benefits as a charitable donation and help protect the environment. Members in the community can upgrade their learning and business environments with the donated surplus carpeting. In addition, ANEW partners with Chrysalis, a non-profit organization providing labor opportunities for the disadvantaged and formerly homeless.

“Our ultimate goal is to divert all carpet products from our landfills, and this partnership touches virtually every aspect of our holistic sustainability philosophy: Environmental, social and economic,” said Anthony Minite, president of Bentley Prince Street, Inc. “Working with ANEW, we now have another alternative to dumping surplus carpet in our landfills – either through re-use or recycling. At the same time, we’re helping learning programs that are so vital to our communities. We hope others in our industry will try new ideas like this partnership to help drive the marketplace toward more environmentally and socially conscious practices.”

The partnership is designed to attract companies to donate their old carpet for the harvesting and designing of next generation sustainable innovations. “It comes down to ‘doing what’s right with what’s left,’” says Rose Tourje, founder and president of ANEW. “The industry is responding with great need for alternatives in the field of surplus liquidation -- alternatives we are delivering. We are humbled to partner with a visionary like Anthony Minite and his entire team at Bentley Prince Street. It is our hope to help deliver industry change, meeting the Mission Zero goal by year 2020, just 13 years away.”

The ReEntry program is one of the industry’s most aggressive, responsible and successful carpet recycling initiatives. Since its creation in 1995, the ReEntry program has diverted millions of pounds of material from landfills. Through the program's partnership with fiber producer INVISTA, Bentley Prince Street will take back any broadloom or modular carpet product from any commercial manufacturer after its useful life and find the most environmentally responsible solution for reclamation, including repurposing into another setting, recycling into new products or using for energy capture and conversion to create steam or electricity. The program also takes into account the cost of energy and fuel needed to reclaim the carpet to ensure the most environmentally conscious solution.

About Bentley Prince Street

Based in Los Angeles County, California, Bentley Prince Street is a leading manufacturer of commercial carpet for corporate, healthcare, hospitality, institutional, residential and retail interiors. All Bentley Prince Street® branded products are defined by leadership in product design, style, customer service and sustainable practices. Bentley Prince Street is continually searching for improvements to compete successfully in a more environmentally aware marketplace and to develop new process and product innovations that will contribute to its Mission Zero goal. Bentley Prince Street is a subsidiary of Interface, Inc., a global provider of floorcoverings and commercial textiles. For more information, please visit www.bentleyprincestreet.com

About ANEW

ANEW (Asset Network for Education Worldwide) is a public, non-profit foundation dedicated to collecting, organizing and repurposing surplus furniture, fixtures and equipment (FF&E) for donation to the underprivileged and others. What ANEW cannot repurpose, it recycles. ANEW works with Habitat for Humanity, Knoll, the LAPD, Beverly Hills Transfer and Storage, Business Alliance, Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. and Chrysalis among others. For more information, visit http://www.anewfound.org