POULSBO — Watson Furniture was among seven companies recognized for Environmental Excellence at the Association of Washington Business’ annual spring meeting in Spokane on Tuesday.

The company earned distinction as the 2013 Environmental Innovator in the large business category for continuous improvement in areas of energy efficiency and waste reduction.

Clif McKenzie, CEO, said upon acceptance of the award, “We have one environmental guiding principle: we are going to do what we can to return this world in better condition than we found it. It is a simple one that our kids know and that our parents would be proud of.”

Watson (www.watsonfurniture.com) initiatives include five-point recycling stations, material re-use, and sourcing regional and recycled materials. Key capital investments have driven further waste reduction and environmentally friendly materials. Briquetting machinery diverted 182 tons of sawdust from the landfill to regional businesses in the form of biomass briquettes, and new machining equipment eliminated the use of PVC edgebanding.

Already technically a zero waste to landfill company, in the next year, Watson is committed to diverting 95 percent or more of its manufacturing waste to recycling.