Earth Day is Friday, April 22nd, an annual event to celebrate environmental protection. Did you know that 70 years before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established, Milliken & Company initiated voluntary environmental stewardship practices? In fact, today more than 99% of Milliken’s solid waste worldwide is reused, recycled or used for energy. Milliken is proud to be a leader in sustainability and mindful business practices!
Products that Do Good
The Milliken family of companies strives to add value to people’s lives, improve health and safety, and do our part to help make the world more sustainable.
Through Milliken’s Landfill Gas Program, more than 80% of harvested methane is received from the LaGrange, GA landfill, which has enabled the company to replace boiler fuel at this plant. The same has been done at the company’s Dewey Plant in Inman, SC.
Responsible Manufacturing
Milliken treats its associates, communities and plant with dignity and respect. Since 1991, Milliken has cut its water consumption by 67% through reducing water flow and reusing water more than once, saving over 37 billion gallons.
Adopted in November 1990, Milliken’s Environmental Policy established a goal of zero waste. The goal is to eliminate rather than reduce all solid waste, hazardous waste and emissions. This policy guides environmental decision-making and calls for preferring all other means of disposal before using a landfill. To date, the company diverts 99% of all waste away from landfills to places where it can be reused or recycled. Additionally, alternative energy is used to power manufacturing plants, such as methane gas produced by local landfills.
The Milliken family of companies has been certified with the global carbon negative status by Leonardo Academy through the Cleaner and Greener® Program, a status earned without purchasing credits. Our “carbon negative” certification means that we capture and offset more carbon dioxide than our global operations emit. Over three million metric tons of CO2 are offset annually, more than five times our annual global emissions.
Doing Good in the World
We seek to bring about positive, measurable improvements in the communities in which we operate.
The Milliken family of companies nurtures 130,000 acres of sustainable-managed forests. Milliken’s 600-acre corporate campus in Spartanburg, SC is a nationally-acclaimed arboretum and horticultural testing ground that is open to the public.
Former long-time CEO Roger Milliken Sr. created the Noble Tree Foundation to promote education about trees and the importance of planting “noble trees” for sustainable development.
Take a self-guided tour on your iPhone or iPad of the Arboretum, including a map of the company’s campus, driving directions to the campus and more! It’s free to download from the iTunes App Store.