Specialising in the design, manufacture and supply of decorative surface finishes, The Laminex Group was recently recognised for its ongoing commitment to sustainability at the annual Chartered Institute for Purchasing Supply (CIPS) Australasia Procurement Professional Awards in Melbourne.

The Laminex Group’s dedication to sourcing and manufacturing products to support a sustainable building industry won them the 'Best Example of Socially Responsible Procurement' award, also jointly awarded to  multinational mining and resources group, Rio Tinto.

The Laminex Group Procurement Manager, Lian Knight, says; “We’re very proud to have our ongoing investment and commitment to developing and fostering a ‘greener’ building industry officially recognised. We’re also thrilled to share the Award with a globally recognised leader like Rio Tinto.”

In July 2011, The Laminex Group submitted an application for the CIPS Awards that detailed the positive work the organisation had performed over the last 12 months:

  • All Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF) products were transitioned from E1 to the even lower formaldehyde E0, including raw and decorated MDF products. Such low emission products help to accrue valuable Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) points in the Green Star Materials Calculator
  • The company has become the first Australian supplier to achieve ecospecifier GreenTag GreenRate Level A certification – one of the most respected third party certifications in Australasia
  • The Laminex Group has 3 FSC Chain of Custody (CoC) certified sites and 4 AFS/PEFC (Australian Forestry Standard/Programme for Endorsement of Certification Schemes) CoC sites. This ensures all the company's certified wood is sourced from responsibly managed forests and able to be traced from processing through to distribution
Knight says a cross functional team has been crucial to the success of the organisation with their ongoing environmental sustainability initiatives. One of these involved assisting many reluctant overseas suppliers of raw materials to achieve their own FSC accreditation to broaden the range of CoC compliant products.

“At the Laminex Group, we have an ongoing commitment to push boundaries, challenge best practice and give building and design professionals more choice when sourcing and specifying sustainable building products for our decorative surface finishes. We will continue to move even further in the ‘green’ sphere over the coming years, so our customers reap the commercial and environmental benefits,” Knight says.