Armstrong says ESG goals boosting its ceiling recycling effort

Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based Armstrong World Industries Inc. says that since being launched in 1999, its Armstrong Ceilings Recycling Program has diverted more than 200 million square feet of discarded ceiling materials from landfills.

Calling its program the nation’s first and longest-running such system, Armstrong says the landfill diversion of the materials resulted in “saving enough virgin resources to fill New York’s Central Park six times over.”

The company says corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments have been adopted by “virtually every building owner and company involved in the building industry.” Thus, the ceiling recycling program offers what Armstrong calls “an efficient and effective solution to reduce construction waste and embodied carbon on commercial renovation and tenant improvement projects.”

Armstrong cites several ESG targets as tying into its ceiling recycling program, including circularity, reduced embodied carbon in the built environment, contributing to improved waste diversion goals and the conservation of resources, including materials, water and energy.

“The building industry accounts for nearly 40 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, with 11 percent coming from building materials alone,” says Anita Snader, Armstrong World Industries senior sustainability manager. “Yet less than one-third of all construction and demolition waste is recovered and reused. Through the ceilings recycling program both Armstrong and the customers who leverage the program are taking a proactive approach to reducing the global carbon footprint of the built environment.”

Armstrong offers an online calculator designed to help current and potential program participants compare the cost of recycling versus landfilling discarded ceiling materials. Using the program also can  contribute to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Version 4 credits for Construction Waste Management, and use of panels with high recycled content can contribute to LEED Version 4 Materials and Resources credits, Armstrong says.

The building products firm says practices that bring ESG goals to the forefront increasingly are considered essential to a business achieving growth objectives and remaining competitive and adds it is “dedicated to connecting everyone from building owners to contractors with the ceilings recycling program” to help promote recycling outcomes.

“A recent Forbes study revealed that 59 percent of engineering and construction leaders feel a sustainable supply chain is a competitive differentiator,” Snader says.

"In today’s world, companies that employ environmentally responsible strategies have a leg up on their competitors. This includes everything from attracting and retaining employees to securing new and repeat business from customers, tenants and clients. The ceilings recycling program helps our customers connect the dots between their ESG commitments and business objectives—allowing them to meet their waste-reduction targets.”

The origins of Armstrong’s ceiling recycling program date to 2009. In 2021, the company joined the Ellen MacArthur Foundation “to find new opportunities for recycling and reuse across product lines.”

More information on the Armstrong Ceilings Recycling Program can be found here.