South Carolina-based manufacturer Milliken & Company has announced that its science-based net-zero targets have been approved by the U.N.-backed Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). SBTi is a collective of international organizations dedicated to helping companies set emission reduction targets consistent with climate science and the Paris Climate Agreement. Milliken is one of the first 50 companies globally to achieve approved science-based net-zero targets. The global manufacturer joins a group of more than 1,300 companies who have made net-zero commitments using the 2021 SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard.

Milliken divides its sustainability goals into people, planet, and product. The company’s net-zero targets align with their 2025 plant goal to reduce indexed greenhouse gas emissions by 25%. Their efforts to reduce scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions will create impact up and down the supply chain. Milliken’s high quality, ethical and sustainability standards for suppliers will be crucial to helping them meet their targets.

Among the company’s sustainability efforts:

• Recycled content: More than 60% of the raw materials purchased for Milliken’s automotive nonwovens business in 2021 were recycled materials. Their newest patent-pending rigid underbody shield product contains 60% recycled content. In 2021, their Gillespie plant internally recycled an estimated 60 tons of scrap into usable material.
• Zero waste to landfill: Milliken & Company set a goal to eliminate all waste to landfill by 2025. The company’s Hillcrest plant sends polyester scrap to a third-party firm to mechanically recycle into usable fiber for new nonwovens. In 2021, over 25 tons of plant scrap were converted.