READERPROFILE Liz Minne: A Business Case for Sustainability as told to Karen Kroll
RESPONSIBILITIES: Shaping Interface’s global commitment to sustainable practices and environmental stewardship, as well as its mission of working to reverse global warming. This includes collaborating with stakeholders, fostering partnerships that drive positive change and impact sustainability, and remaining at the forefront of emerging sustainability trends to ensure Interface remains a pioneer in environmental responsibility. EXPERIENCE: Director, global sustainability, Interface; environmental program manager, Thyssenkrupp Elevator; project manager, EPD team leader and LEED senior reviewer, Epsten Group; sustainability analyst, Georgia Institute of Technology; computational chemistry intern, NIST. EDUCATION: PhD and M.S., environmental engineering; B.S., polymer and fiber engineering, all earned at Georgia Institute of Technology. LIZ MINNE heads global sustainability strategy for Interface Inc., a flooring solutions company.
A t the start of my career, I was very focused on science and engineering. I’ve since shifted to
We’ve set aggressive, science- based targets to reduce our overall environmental impact by 50% for Scopes 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 2030. Scope 3 emissions, or those from purchased goods and services, comprise our largest single category and is linked closely to our suppliers. This is a hugely ambitious goal and will take everybody on the team to get there. I’m excited about the direction that Interface is moving. Over the past 30 years, we have transformed our products, factories, and supply chain to lower our carbon impact. We even developed the first-ever carpet tile styles that are carbon negative. That is, throughout its lifecycle, it removes more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it emits.
language and provide direction on the information we needed. We’d come prepared with research on their goals and explore greater alignment to help open up the conversations. Depending on how advanced the supplier is with carbon and greenhouse gas inventories, lifecycle assessment, the circular economy, and other environmental measures, my team and I offer expertise that can help them advance their journey or look for areas of collaboration. A lot of our initial work has been to get better data. That means engaging with our suppliers, so they can get real measurements on the materials they’re providing. It’s also engaging with them about the ways they can affect their own environmental impact.
become more focused on management and strategy. Yet I think it’s important and useful to be able to speak the language and understand the data and technical details. I lead Interface’s department focused on the technical data and strategy sides of our sustainability mission. We set targets and figure out the strategy that will get us there. Then, we work with the procurement teams to identify areas where we can make an impact. When we started working with our suppliers, most weren’t familiar with the words ‘lifecycle assessment.’ We had to figure out the resources that would help them understand the data and
10 Inbound Logistics • December 2024
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