Reducing our footprint while eliminating footprints in your facility —how do mats help protect the earth?

Earth Day was founded in 1970 as a day to educate people about the planet’s environmental issues it is faced with, and additionally how to limit these issues to support a healthy earth. Earth Day is internationally celebrated on April 22 of each year and has more recently extended into Earth Week.

At Crown Matting Technologies we recognize the importance of maintaining a green facility—to assist in this initiative we can help your business become more environmentally friendly by obtaining a LEED Certification. Crown Matting can provide you with a matting solution that will fall under the guidelines of transforming your business into a greener one.

We see the importance of reducing our footprint in our manufactured items. To do this we utilize recycled materials like PET, in 13 different mats—which range from industrial anti-fatigue mats to entrance mats.

What is LEED?

Let us “LEED” you in the right direction.

LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The program was created by the U.S. Green Business Bureau to encourage business owners to make eco-friendly adjustments to their buildings to reduce their carbon footprint. Building LEED credits is a great way to separate your business from others.

The LEED Certification is a rating system based on 110 available points and has four levels:

• Certified: 40-49 points
• Silver: 50-59 points
• Gold: 60-79 points
• Platinum: 80+ points

One of the ways LEED points can be earned is by properly maintaining building operations and maintenance practices, such as keeping buildings free from dirt, dust, and other debris that can be tracked in from the outdoors. This is where matting comes into play—according to the ISSA 15 feet of matting will eliminate 80-90% of the dirt that is tracked in from the outdoors.

Here at Crown Matting Technologies, we recognize this and recommend the 3-Mat system to achieve a more sophisticated approach to eliminating dirt at the front door. The 3-Mat system should be at least 15 feet in length and should contain the following mats respectively:

1. Scraper Mat: The function of the scraper mat is to scrape mud, dirt, and large particles from the bottom of the shoes—preventing debris from entering the building. This mat should be placed outside or directly inside of the entrance doors.
2. Scraper/Wiper Mat: The purpose of this type of mat is to not only scrape the debris that may have been left behind from the scraper mat but to also wipe away moisture and fine dust particles. A scraper/wiper mat is also a good solution when the entrance is too small for a multiple matting system—this is because it will perform both the scraping and the wiping function.
3. Wiper Mat: The wiper mat’s function is to wipe away the fine dust particles and moisture from the shoe. The wiper captures the dirt by trapping it below the surface of the mat, stopping the spread of dust and moisture onto the floors. This mat has also been proven to enhance the air quality by capturing the dust particles rather than releasing them into the air.

A 3-Mat System covers 15-18 ft of floor preventing dirt from getting in your building leading to poor air quality and high costs in maintenance to remove dirt from your facility. According to the Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association (ISSA), 24 pounds of dirt can be tracked inside by just 1,000 visitors over a 20-day work period. That is a substantial amount of dirt that can potentially enter your building and pollute the indoor air quality.

What is PET? & Why do we use it?

Polyethylene terephthalate or as we typically see it referred to as PET. PET is the name of a type of clear, strong, lightweight, and 100% recyclable plastic. Unlike other plastics, this type of plastic is not manufactured for a single-use, this 100% recyclable plastic makes it versatile and is made to be remade.

You will commonly see “PET” pressed into the bottom of a clear beverage bottle or clear food packaging. When you choose to recycle these bottles and containers, they can be melted down and reused whether it be a plastic bottle, packaging, or spun into fibers. The Encyclopedia Britannica explains this as so,

PET is the most widely recycled plastic. PET bottles and containers are commonly melted down and spun into fibers for fiberfill or carpets. When collected in a suitably pure state, PET can be recycled into its original uses, and methods have been devised for breaking the polymer down into its chemical precursors for resynthesizing into PET. The recycling code number for PET is #1.

The process for making PET into fibers for matting

Benefits of PET

• 100% Recyclable
• Color Retention
• Fade Resistant
• Stain Resistant

The above benefits make PET fibers a great option for use in quality matting. Crown Matting Technologies does its part for the environment and to make quality products for customers.

To see what mats are made with recycled materials visit www.crownmats.com. Let us help you get LEED credits and make your building an environmentally friendly and clean facility.