TISE 2015 Recycling Haul: 70 Tons

IRVING, Texas – More than 70 tons of stone, tile and floor coverings will get a second life after last month’s The International Surface Event (2015) in Las Vegas.

More than 84 exhibitors committed to the program, now in its fourth year, of donating materials after the show, which resulted in 140,765 lbs. collected by Mountain Re-Source Center and its subsidiary, Tile Partners for Humanity.

Product donations filled eight 53-ft. trailers to capacity and one large flatbed stacked high with rolls of carpet.  Donations from the show have more than tripled since the program was launched in 2012.  

The gently-used product was delivered to two charitable organizations – Habitat for Humanity (Las Vegas) and River Valley Community Outreach Center (Gridley, Calif.), which plan to utilize the materials to support community improvement efforts currently underway.

Each year, Informa Exhibitions U.S. provides Mountain Re-Source Center a complimentary booth space on the show floor, enabling on-site representatives to solicit exhibitor donations, answer questions and assist with donor logistics before, during and after the three-day event.

Working side-by-side with the staff of the Freeman Companies in Las Vegas, along with key facility vendors made it all possible. Freeman provided the necessary equipment and resources to remove donated product from the show floor, as well as the manpower needed to strategically pack and load the trailers; United Services provided material transport and cleaning services.

“We can’t say enough about the generosity of the donors and our ongoing partnership with Informa and Freeman – thanks to them, our partners are sharing in a record amount of flooring from TISE,” said Herb Miller, Mountain Re-Source Center executive director. “The beautiful materials from this show will support community improvement and help families in need to build stronger homes. Thank you to EVERYONE who made this incredible donation possible.”

MRC handles similar recycling programs for other construction-based Informa Exhibitions U.S. shows including DeckExpo, JLC Live NE, JLC Live NW and the Remodeling Show.  

“We feel a responsibility to make our participating companies aware of the many ways their recycling efforts can be implemented into their year-round business model,” said Pamela Miller, TISE associate show manager.  “Our Mountain Re-Source Center lead, Ally Venugopal, works hard to convey to our exhibitors that donating their display and product materials might satisfy an immediate need for effective post-show disposal, but that realistically their warehouse inventories, discontinued product lines, and outdated samples can all be considered for continuing donations and tax breaks all year long.”

Freeman Companies, United Services and the Mandalay Bay Convention Center helped collect a total of 571,725 lbs. of commodity materials that would have otherwise been collected as trash and sent to a landfill.  Officials from the Mandalay Bay Convention Center provided a comprehensive post-show report confirming that as a result of the effort, 80% of the total waste generated from the show was recycled.  Recycled materials included cardboard, carpet, carpet pads, concrete, metal, aluminum, paper, plastics, wood crates and pallets.  

“From a standpoint of being the premier industry event, as well as a leading organizer of trade shows in the U.S., we are proud of these remarkable results and this initiative,” stated Dana Teague, vice president with Informa Exhibitions U.S. and The International Surface Event. “Sustainability touches all of our lives and business, and is truly a social responsibility not to be ignored. Our participating exhibiting companies and partners are making a positive impact by touching lives of local communities where it matters most.”

Exhibiting companies of all sizes from the floor covering, stone and tile industries actively participated in the recycling initiative for TISE 2015.  Major contributors included:

Du Chateau
Dixie Group
Hallmark Hardwoods
Herregan Distributors
Johnson Hardwood
Kraus
Mannington Mills
Northwood Industrial Machine
Phenix Flooring
QuartzSource
QuickStep – Unilin Flooring
Stanton Carpet
Tarkett North America
US Floors

For more information regarding Mountain Re-Source Center and Tile Partners for Humanity, visit mountainre-source.org and tpfh.com.