How Does Trex Lean Into Its Commitment To Sustainability? Our New Headquarters Provides A Full-Circle Example

In June 2023, Trex opened the doors to its new global headquarters and a new chapter in our company’s history. Home to more than 200 employees, the 64,000-square-foot facility was designed to reflect and continue Trex’s environmental heritage, from incorporating energy-efficient lights throughout to installing solar cells on the roof and future EV charging stations in the parking lot. Even during construction, we leaned into our legacy of sustainability and innovation to achieve greater circularity and keep our environmental footprint to a minimum, initiatives that garnered the building Silver LEED status.

Giving New Life to What’s Left Behind

Trex is a company founded on the premise that ingenuity can help extract value from what was once seen as waste. Our industry-leading composite decking is comprised of up to 95% recycled and reclaimed materials, including a mix of discarded polyethylene plastic film and industrial wood scrap. Each year, we divert more than one billion pounds of these materials from landfills, and we are proud to be one of North America’s largest recyclers of flexible plastic.

As we embarked on the development of our new corporate facility, we recognised there would be a certain amount of waste generated during construction, including leftover composite material used on the building’s exterior. Disposing of this waste just isn’t in our DNA. So, rather than throwing these materials away in the landfill, we saw an opportunity to upcycle them into new Trex products.

By the time the building was completed, more than 12,800 pounds of composite scrap from deck boards, cladding and fascia were collected, ground down and recycled directly back into our production process.

Leading by Example

As we continue to explore new initiatives and define what’s next in outdoor living for generations to come, one thing remains constant – our enduring commitment to creating positive change in the world with innovations that reduce our environmental impact. We embrace the challenge of reducing Trex’s environmental impact - across emissions, energy, waste and water - even as our business expands.

We work hard to embed sustainable practices throughout our operations. Our manufacturing process is engineered to be as eco-friendly as our products with nearly all factory scrap and plastic packaging recycled back into our production line. Additionally, we collect any scrap paper, cardboard, metals and plastic strapping from all of our operations and send them to off-site recycling facilities.

Our focus on conserving resources also extends to the materials used in our marketing brochures and product packaging. Our marketing team recently replaced a 60-page printed product brochure with a quad-fold mailer featuring digital QR codes that link to online content. This single change significantly reduced our annual paper use. And, by collaborating with one of our largest customers, we transitioned one of our products to a new packaging design that uses 27% less material. This change also eliminates nearly 4,000 pounds of strapping and more than 640 pounds of labels per year. Together, these seemingly small changes represent a mindset that flourishes within Trex - thoughtfully approaching opportunities to conserve resources, recycle and reduce waste.

An Environmentally Responsible Choice

At Trex, we believe in minimising waste to create a greener future and we believe that change starts at home. By creating products made from primarily recycled materials and upcycling our own internally generated waste wherever possible, we strive to create a more circular economy and offer consumers a truly environmentally responsible choice.

By using Trex products, you can enjoy a high-performance, low-maintenance outdoor living space knowing that you're also contributing to a more sustainable world.