Sustainability

At Vertex, we are answering the need to invest in a restorative ecosystem, and we are doing our part to educate, motivate and encourage others to do the same. The future starts with all of us, at this moment.

As a global leader in sustainable and transparent practices, Vertex sets industry standards for high performing and biophilically designed products. Manufacturing processes, workplaces, global outreach and product ingredients all reflect a dedication to the environment, well-being, social justice and equity.

Under the leadership of parent company HMTX Industries and the direction of Chief Sustainability & Quality Officer Rochelle Routman, a central Product Authority Team serves as an information clearinghouse that directs the manner in which sustainability unfolds throughout the global enterprise. The team is involved in all aspects of the product channel: supply chain sustainability, product and social transparency, customer service, testing and compliance, innovation, quality and performance.

Nowhere is the company’s commitment to sustainability and transparency more evident than in its business practices in China. Far from hiding the origin of its products, Vertex is defining a new standard of transparency in Chinese manufacturing. The decision to pursue this influential and aspirational strategy was made by HMTX CEO, Harlan Stone.

Over three decades, the Stone family has worked closely with two Chinese factories to push boundaries, proving that it’s possible for Chinese manufacturing to deliver on product quality and transparency in social justice, product ingredients and product lifecycle impacts.

Under the leadership of HMTX and Vertex, both factories have achieved the JUST℠ social justice label—a first for any company in China (and all of Asia). The JUST program gauges a company’s performance in a wide range of metrics, including safety, diversity, worker benefits and community engagement.

A variety of Vertex flooring products carry Declare℠ labels and Health Product Declarations^® (HPD), which are used to disclose and screen product ingredients. In fact, Aspecta Ten was the first rigid core / multilayer modular flooring product to receive a Declare label and the first to receive an HPD. The company has issued several Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for its Aspecta line and will complete EPDs for its entire line of Aspecta products by early 2020.