The World’s Most Innovative Companies is Fast Company’s signature franchise and one of its most highly anticipated editorial efforts of the year. It provides a firsthand look at the inspiring and innovative efforts of companies across all sectors of the economy. Fast Company’s editors and writers sought out the companies making the biggest strides around the globe.
We’re so excited to be among companies paving the way for the innovations of tomorrow. The Social Good category is a resounding honor for us, namely due to the innovation story and efforts behind ACRE™, our flagship wood-alternative building material.
It offers all of the warmth and beauty of rich tropical woods like ipe, teak and cedar with the low-maintenance convenience of composites. ACRE is the first wood alternative that is virtually indistinguishable from wood, allowing it to disrupt the status quo and create meaningful change.
We are proud to be a zero-waste, circular manufacturer. All scraps are recycled and returned product – and even the sawdust – is used to make new ACRE products. One pallet of ACRE saves an acre of tropical rainforest for exotic hardwoods like IPE and one tree or one pallet of the equivalent lumber for softwoods like southern yellow pine. In 2022 alone, those who chose ACRE products contributed to saving the equivalent of approximately 44,000 acres of tropical rainforest or 13,000 softwood trees.
Additionally in 2022, Modern Mill diverted over 4,000 tons of rice hulls that were destined for landfills. That’s approximately 1,100,000 cubic feet of space in a landfill or the equivalent of all one day’s garbage in the City of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Modern Mill operates in a rural community in Mississippi with above-average poverty levels and is committed to quality job creation. The company has created more than 100 quality jobs in a county where 47% of the population lives at the poverty level.
The future of tree-free building is here and at Modern Mill, we will continue to pursue relentless innovation to create products that are more sustainable, more durable, and more beautiful than anyone has experienced before.
