By Healthcare Facilities Today

ST. PAUL, Minn.  — 3M, a leader in the development of environmentally sustainable products, announced that many of its popular floor pads will now be made with recycled materials. Beginning in March 2014, the polyester fiber used to make a range of pads for floor maintenance will contain a minimum of 50 percent post-consumer recycled content.

The 3M product team extensively tested the product to ensure the new floor pads have the same high-performance standards as those made without recycled fibers. The result is a floor pad that is durable, washable, reusable and longer lasting, helping to postpone end-of-life landfill disposal. Compared to the closest competitor, 3M floor pads remove deep scuff marks seven times faster, are nearly 40 percent more effective at floor stripping and have 50 percent better burnishing durability.

“Using recycled materials in our floor pads is just one of the many steps we’re taking to boost the sustainability of the product line,” said Paul Amos, marketing manager at 3M. “Floor pad packaging also contains 50 to 100 percent recycled content and is 100 percent recyclable as well.”

The floor pads are the latest addition to 3M’s extensive portfolio of environmentally-preferable hard floor maintenance and protection products. 3M continues to invent new ways to protect and enhance floors with systems and solutions that help reduce chemical usage and increase sustainability. Other popular sustainable floor care products from 3M include the 3M Easy Trap Duster Cloth, which now contains a minimum of 60 percent recycled content, and Scotchgard Resilient and Stone Floor Protectors, which are National Floor Safety Institute certified for slip resistance and can help reduce the need for floor stripping chemicals.

“We’re committed to providing innovative, cost-effective cleaning solutions for our customers while striving for a smaller environmental footprint,” added Amos. “3M’s hard floor protection products have focused on sustainability for a long time, so adding recycled materials to our floor pads was a natural step.”

For more information on 3M’s complete line of sustainable floor care solutions, visit www.3m.com/sustainablesolutions.

About 3M 

3M captures the spark of new ideas and transforms them into thousands of ingenious products. Our culture of creative collaboration inspires a never-ending stream of powerful technologies that make life better. 3M is the innovation company that never stops inventing. With $31 billion in sales, 3M employs 89,000 people worldwide and has operations in more than 70 countries. For more information, visit www.3M.com or follow @3MNews on Twitter.