Desso Airmaster® Named One of Top 100 Sustainable Solutions, Selected by Scandinavian Think Tank Sustainia

WAALWIJK, The Netherlands, June 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Desso, the global carpet, carpet tiles and sports pitches company was selected as one of the top 100 companies in the world for providing an innovative sustainability solution by the Scandinavian think tank SUSTAINIA.

The honorary chairman of SUSTAINIA, Arnold Schwarzenegger heads the selection committee for SUSTAINIA 100 that also includes former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, EU Commissioner of Climate Action Connie Hedegaard and Chair of the UN climate panel, IPCC, Dr. Rajendra K. Pachauri.

SUSTAINIA 100 investigated more than 900 technologies and projects around the globe to identify the 100 outstanding cases.

Desso was selected by the judging panel for its innovative new product, the  DESSO AirMaster®, specially designed carpet tiles that are eight times more effective at capturing and retaining fine dust in the indoor air than hard flooring and four times more effective than standard carpets^[1];

The Sustania 100 judges said: "Indoor air pollution is a major health problem worldwide, as we spend approximately 90% of our time indoors. This solution contributes to cleaner indoor air, helping to reduce health problems such as asthma. The carpet works to reduce sickness absenteeism."^[2]

Dr. Rajendra K. Pachauri, Chair of the UN panel for climate Change, IPCC said: "While we don't have the luxury of time to fix the problems, we do have the luxury of readily available solutions. And with Sustainia100, we now know where to find the most inspiring of them."

Air pollution today presents a major environmental risk to human health, according to the World Health Organisation. Its latest research found that in 2012 seven million people died as a result of exposure to indoor and outdoor air pollution, one in eight of total global deaths. WHO said: "This finding more than doubles previous estimates and confirms that air pollution is now the world's largest single environmental health risk."^[3]

The DESSO AirMaster® also comes complete with Cradle to Cradle® qualities, ensuring the materials are healthy for use and are recyclable at the end of the products life cycle, complying with Desso's commitment to environmental responsibility and its aim to deliver products that contribute to health and wellbeing.

Desso is committed to the circular economy, a regenerative model that encourages the development of products that contribute to health and wellbeing and the establishment of a non-toxic closed loop system. Its Cradle to Cradle® philosophy covers five key areas relating to the environment and human health: Material health, material reutilisation, renewable energy, water stewardship and social fairness.

"We are delighted to see our innovation strategy based on creativity, functionality and Cradle to Cradle® gain recognition in this way," says Alexander Collot d'Escury. "We have seen how it has led to the creation of the DESSO AirMaster®, realising our company vision to 'make the floor work for your health and wellbeing'. SUSTANIA 100 also say this year there was more focus around the circular economy among the innovators, which is very encouraging. Its shows that good business leads to better results."

The DESSO AirMaster® contains up to 100% ECONYL®^[4] regenerated nylon yarn and is available with Cradle to Cradle® Silver Certified DESSO EcoBase® backing. The health benefits of this product resulted in it becoming one of Desso's top sellers with big markets in Europe and Latin America.

For more information on Desso please visit: http://www.desso.com

The full Sustainia100 publication is available online at:  
http://www.sustainia.me/resources/publications/3rd_sustainia100_2014.pdf

^[1] Based on tests performed by the independent German test institute, GUI, with DESSO AirMaster^® carpet versus standard PVC hardfloor and versus standard structured loop pile carpet

^[2] Sustainia 100 Report 2014, page 125.

^[3] WHO, 7 million premature deaths annually linked to air pollution, 25 March 2014

Source: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2014/air-pollution/en/

^[4] The total percentage of recycled content varies per product and per colour. Whether a colour contains ECONYL^® yarn and the exact percentage thereof can be found on our website: http://www.desso.com