Hickory, N.C. – Century Furniture, a 62-year-old privately held and family operated manufacturer, has achieved EFEC registration at all three of its domestic manufacturing plants, the American Home Furnishings Alliance (AHFA) announces.

EFEC – or "Enhancing Furniture's Environmental Culture" – is a voluntary environmental management program created for the residential furniture industry by AHFA. Century is among five leading manufacturers that have achieved EFEC registration for all domestic manufacturing facilities this year. Others include Fairfield Chair, La-Z-Boy Residential, Flexsteel (including DMI), and Hooker (including Bradington Young and Sam Moore). Altogether, this comprehensive environmental program – which calls on participants to make continual improvements in order to retain their registration – has been implemented at 25 different furniture manufacturing locations in 2009.

"We are particularly proud of our EFEC leadership teams and our plant associates who embraced the challenge to become even more sustainable during these challenging times," says Alex Shuford II, CEO. "The savings from efficiency gains proved again that 'good for the environment' can also mean 'good for business.' "

Century, which manufacturers the majority of its products in the United States, implemented EFEC at two upholstery plants and one case goods factory, all in Hickory, N.C. The factories reduced electricity use by 14 percent; cut water use by 20 percent; and slashed the volume of waste taken to landfills by 31 percent.

To achieve these results, Century employed a variety of measures, including:

• Installation of a bailing machine at the main upholstery plant in Hickory, N.C., to facilitate recycling fabric scraps;
• Operating small compressors on the off-shifts to save energy;
• A "lights out" policy for unoccupied rooms and offices;
• Installation of additional recycling bins company-wide for collecting plastics, cardboard and cotton;
• Investment in a "custom carton fabricator," which resulted in a double digit decline in cardboard use; and,
• On-site recycling of finishing acetone.

Companies that complete EFEC registration at all domestic facilities are eligible to begin AHFA's Sustainable by Design environmental program.

"EFEC requires a company to analyze and better understand the environmental impact of its domestic operations on a facility-by-facility basis," explains AHFA's vice president of environmental affairs, Bill Perdue. "Century intends to take its environmental commitment to the next level by completing AHFA's Sustainable by Design program, which requires companies to evaluate the environmental impact of their entire supply chain, calculate their global climate impact and initiate steps to reduce their corporate environmental footprint."