People | Planet | Product

AUTHOR:
Bo Barber, Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing

At Ecore, our mission statement is a beautiful and authentic summary of what we do every day, how we do it, and, more importantly, why we do it: Ecore upcycles reclaimed materials into performance surfaces that make people’s lives better.

Our mission of making people’s lives better not only includes our customers’ lives, but also our more than 500 employees’ lives. The simple idea that taking care of “our people” fuels the engine that allows us to impact the lives of “other people” that interact with our company and the performance surfaces we create is one of the reasons Ecore has been successful for the past 150 years. 

This people-centric model has encouraged Ecore to distill our mission down even more to focus on 3 pillars that each Ecore employees’ daily work centers around: People, Planet and Product. These 3 pillars have been held dear by Ecore since our company’s inception in 1871 and are brought to life in this video.

PLANET

In a world that likes to talk the talk, Ecore prefers to walk the walk. Ecore was born “green” and has been making planet-centric choices for more than a century. We began by harvesting the benefits of wood without harming trees by creating products using cork bark. Believe it or not, harvesting the bark from a cork oak tree makes the tree stronger, and trees can live to be more than 200 years old! This led to developing a process to refine the residual waste of making solid cork products into composition cork materials.

In the late 1980’s, Ecore evolved its footprint from cork to begin mining other waste streams, primarily in the form of the treads of commercial truck tires. This upcycling process utilizes high-performance raw materials at the end of life and converts them into something better instead of throwing it away. On average, Ecore products contain 62 percent postconsumer recycled content. Upcycling can be elegant!  

Ecore’s vertically integrated manufacturing capabilities include grinding, screening, removal of stone, wood, paper, fluff, fiber, and other materials from scrap tire rubber to produce exacting specifications that meet or exceed customers internal, external, and ASTM specifications. With our state-of-the-art equipment, experienced staff, and 100-million-pound capacity, Ecore is uniquely capable of producing the cleanest, most consistent, and highest quality Vulcanized Composition Rubber (VCR) available in the marketplace.

Ecore’s manufacturing process diverts rubber from landfills and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while producing virtually no waste. Scrap material from our manufacturing process is collected and recycled back into our system. This is because rubber can be continually upcycled and does not degrade through the recycling process like paper or plastics.

Ecore is proud to proclaim that we are Landfill Negative. We diverted more than 112 million pounds of truck tires from landfills in 2019 while only contributing 8.7 million pounds of waste – a net landfill diversion of 103.3 million pounds!

PEOPLE

Ecore values people. Our commitment is to enhance the experience of those who work for and interact with our company, both in our community and as clients and customers. This commitment extends to those that interact with the surfaces we manufacture.

We choose to empower people to be active both physically, mentally, and socially. Bodies in motion tend to stay in motion, in addition to promoting health, wellness, and the ability to do what people love with the people they love for longer. Ecore supports a philosophy of continuous learning in our company and community. Being challenged mentally leads to the innovation and creativity that fuels growth for us individually.

It is also difficult to have a mission focused on people without acknowledging and being active in the plight of people socially. While our floors act like a muscle to support the people that use them, we are also committed to acknowledging and empowering all people to thrive within our company and community.

PRODUCTS

Our product innovation is driven by a single question: Can a floor do more? At Ecore, our company and our products are “Built by YES.” Floors doing more is achieved by providing safety, ergonomic, and acoustic benefits in every surface we make with VCR. Our surfaces thrive in environments where performance is required or desired. When bodies are in motion, the surface needs to absorb, withstand, and support all the energy being created. To control energy, you must have energy. VCR is essentially a muscle. By driving energy into our surfaces, we enable them to manage all the energy of human bodies and physical bodies, from kettle bells to jingle bells.

This disruptive performance has been relegated to traditional performance markets like sports, fitness, and recreation. Ecore’s patented itsTRU™ technology allows us to take this process one step further; and, as a result, virtually any surface layer – VCR, carpet, turf, or vinyl – can provide MORE! That’s because itsTRU™ technology is the process of fusion bonding a surface layer to a Ecore VCR base layer.  This allows Ecore to disrupt new markets like health and wellness, where the bodies in motion range from front line nurses in hospitals to physical therapists. It also begs a grander question in markets like corporate and education, where new paradigms are creating a more active and engaging environments where a floor could do more.

MORE

ItsTRU™ technology allows surfaces to provide MORE. And MORE consists of three things:

Safety
Because of the VCR in Ecore surfaces, our floors can help prevent serious injuries when falls occur.

• Products in Ecore’s Rx Collection have been tested for G-Max using the Clegg Machine protocol. A conventional mathematical formula is often used to convert Clegg test results to ASTM F355 result for comparison purposes. Using this protocol to compare traditional flooring products, the Ecore Rx surfacing technology demonstrates up to a 35.5% reduction in impact acceleration.
• At medical facilities, reducing injury from falls may reduce unbudgeted and no reimbursable treatment charges.
• All VCR surfaces provide slip resistance, even when wet.

Ergonomics
By virtue of the VCR, Ecore surfaces provide force reduction and energy restitution.

• Enhanced ergonomics = healthier & happier staff, athletes working out, and anyone using an Ecore surface.
• Healthier staff/customers = fewer injury claims and better customer & patient care
• Happier staff/customers = better outcomes and more successful businesses

Acoustics
Ecore-engineered surfaces can significantly reduce noise caused by impacts, whether it is the footsteps of a nurse or a dropped dumbbell. That’s because Ecore's products are designed to manage this energy. The energy created from impact has two general transmission paths.

• In-room Impact Noise – sound level in room where the impact occurs
• Transmitted Impact Noise – sound level in adjacent room, typically below impact

Depending upon the transition path you are trying to address and the acoustic solution you’re trying to solve for, Ecore can provide the right flooring solution.

As Ecore approaches our 150th anniversary in 2021, we will continue to uphold our mission, while also renewing our efforts to focus on people, the planet, and products. As a result of Ecore’s innovative technology, we’re able to offer surfaces that provide more because of Ecore’s three unique technologies. For more information about Ecore, visit Ecore International.