MOHAWK AND DUPONT TO PRODUCE
'SMART-STRAND' FIBER USING
CORN-BASED RAW MATERIAL

LOUDON, TN - A new DuPont fiber making facility will produce a key ingredient for SmartStrand, a Mohawk Carpet fiber using renewable agricultural resources. The fiber will reduce the use of petroleum-based products and save energy, according to Mohawk.

A joint-venture of DuPont and Tate & Lyle, the new facility substitutes petroleum with corn sugar to create Bio-PDO, which is a key ingredient in Mohawk's SmartStrand made with DuPont Sorona polymer. 

"We are taking carpet fiber literally from the field to the floor,�VbCrLf said Jeff Lorberbaum, Mohawk's chairman and chief exective officer. "We are looking forward to giving our industry another remarkable innovation, one that will benefit our dealers, our consumers and the environment.�VbCrLf

Lorberbaum said using renewably sourced PDO to make Sorona polymer results in about 40% reduction in energy consumption. "Seven square yards of 40-ounce carpet featuring SmartStrand fiber made with DuPont Sorona renewably sourced polymer will save enough energy and natural resources equal to one gallon of gasoline,�VbCrLf he said.

Both Mohawk and DuPont stressed that the new renewable resource based polymer has the same performance benefits as a petroleum-based product.  Carpets manufactured using SmartStrand fiber with DuPont Sorona renewably sourced polymer offer stain protection that is inherent in fiber, not a surface treatment. The fiber is also resistant to chlorine and UV light. It dries rapidly and has static protection.  

SmartStrand fiber with DuPont Sorona renewably sourced polymer is being phased into Mohawk production and will be in place throughout the company's product offerings this Fall.