A Guilford textiles company was recognized Tuesday for ground-breaking work to reduce or eliminate toxic chemicals during manufacturing and in its products.

InterfaceFABRIC of Guilford was among six companies – including corporate giants Dell Computers and Kaiser Permanente – singled out by the New York group Clean Production Action in its report “Healthy Business Strategies for Transforming the Toxic Chemical Economy.”

In spring 2004, InterfaceFABRIC unveiled the first commercial products featuring the company’s new Terratex line of textiles, which are made from 100 percent recyclable or renewable materials. Terratex fabrics are now used in such commercial products as office paneling, upholstered chairs and ceiling tiles.

In development since the mid-1990s, Terratex uses bio-based fibers, such as corn or rice, that are also compostable or recyclable at the end of the product’s life.

The company also created a complex screening process to ensure that materials from other suppliers that go into Terratex fabrics do not contain harmful chemicals. Only 30 of the more than 280 chemicals screened by Interface have been approved for use in Terratex.

Wendy Porter, director of environmental management for Interface Inc., InterfaceFABRIC’s parent company, said the screening process is filtering down throughout the supply chain. Vendors are not only responding to Interface’s requests; they are bringing more environmentally preferable products to the wider market.

“We educate the marketplace, and as we educate the marketplace, the marketplace moves,” said Porter, who works out of an office in Bangor.

The resulting consolidation of suppliers has also saved Interface an estimated $300,000 annually, a fact that the report’s authors said proves companies can switch to environmentally sensitive practices without increasing production costs.

Interface is also credited with reducing production waste and emissions as well as energy and water usage in Terratex production.

Mark Rossi, research director at Clean Production Action, said Tuesday during a conference call with reporters that the six companies highlighted in the report have shown it is possible to reduce or replace toxic chemicals and still make competitive, commercially successful products.

Clean Production Action is an environmental group that promotes “green chemistry” by working with companies to substitute hazardous materials with ecologically friendly ones and by encouraging the use of renewable or recyclable materials.

“The point is if there is a safer substitute, use the safer substitute,” Rossi said. “The companies profiled here are examples of how to do that.”

Porter said Terratex represents a small portion of InterfaceFABRIC’s total business, but the share is growing as more manufacturers seek out environmentally sensitive fabrics. Ford Motor Co., for instance, plans to use Interface’s products in a future edition of its Escape Hybrid SUV, she said.

Porter said the Terratex process is a significant step toward Interface’s goal of eliminating all of the company’s negative impacts on the environment by 2020.

InterfaceFABRIC employs about 480 people at two Guilford plants and another 50 at a plant in Newport.

The other companies recognized in the report are: Dell Computers, Kaiser Permanente, Avalon Natural Products, H&M and Herman Miller.

More information is available at: www.cleanproduction.org