Driving the circular economy forward Tarkett

Leading in leather for 80 years Wollsdorf

DRIVING THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY FORWARD

Tarkett is a global leader in the development and manufacture of sustainable flooring for domestic, commercial and sports surface solutions. Philip Yorke reports on a company that continues to dominate the world stage and to drive the Circular Economy forward in its sector.

Tarkett has been providing unique flooring and sports surface solutions for more than 130 years in homes, offices, hospitals, retail stores, hotels and in venues wherever sports are played. The company’s drive for leadership through sustainable, profitable growth is based upon a range of key success strategies that create value for all its stakeholders.

Tarkett was founded in France in 1880 by two young entrepreneurs, whose early success set the stage for the future growth of the company. Tarkett’s new headquarters are located in the prestigious ‘La Defence’ area of Paris, and are the hub for its global operations which span over 100 countries and employ more than 1200 people worldwide. In 2015, the Tarkett Group recorded sales of over €2.6 billion.

Every year the group sells more than 1.3 million square metres of flooring each day, and these are manufactured in-house by its 34 production sites spread across four continents.

Sustainability, a positive strategy for growth

Tarkett sees sustainability as the cornerstone of its strategy for future growth. In the European theatre this is spearheaded by Remco Teulings, the company’s president of its EMEA division and who is also a member of the Executive Management Committee and reports directly to Michel Giannuzzi, Tarkett’s CEO.

A good example of the direction that the company is heading today is its launch in the EMEA region is a unique, modular vinyl solution known as ‘iD Click’ flooring, which offers the perfect solution for commercial working spaces. Thanks to its unique fold-down click system, the installation becomes a much faster process than those relying simply on glue-down products.

In addition, the company has entered into a unique strategic partnership with Veolia, in order to help accelerate its ReStart® programme, which is an activity set up in 2010 for the collection and recovery of used flooring products. As part of this programme, Veolia will collect and sort post – installation flooring off-cuts from Tarkett’s customers in the construction industry. The flooring collected and sorted is then recycled at Tarkett’s European production sites. This special strategic partnership covers the whole of France and has the potential to extend this special recycling programme into other areas and materials.

“For several years, Tarkett has been committed to a transition to a circular economy by applying cradle to cradle® principles across all its activities. The ReStart® collection and recycling programme is one of the cornerstones of our commitment to closing the material loop. This partnership with Veolia enables us to offer our clients a better collection and recycling service, whilst increasing volumes and quality of recycled input in our flooring. It also illustrates the capacity of the private sector to offer solutions that support sustainable economic growth,” explained Teulings.

Tarkett and Veolia are both members of the World Economic Forum and Circular Economy 100 Network, where the two companies engage in new projects and discussions to stimulate the acceleration of the Circular Economy on an international scale.

Acquisitions and innovation driving sales

In tandem with the company’s strategy for sustainability and eco-friendly operations, it has acquired many companies over the last decade that share its commitment to the Circular Economy and sustainability. Significant acquisitions in recent years have included many of the world’s brand leaders, such as Marley Floors, Field Turf, Johnsonite and Tandus

BASF

At BASF, we create chemistry – and have been doing so for more than 150 years. With the development of Hexamoll® DINCH®, BASF has actively triggered a new generation of plasticizers in the market. High safety standards and extensive testing make Hexamoll® DINCH® the ideal solution for homogeneous and heterogeneous flooring products as well as luxury vinyl tiles. With its unique performance, an excellent toxicological profile and a low migration rate, this non-phthalate plasticizer sets high standards with regard to sustainability. This complements Tarkett’s ambitious sustainability strategy to minimize the environmental impact of products. Working together on achieving these challenging targets strengthens the successful, long-term partnership between Tarkett and BASF.

– the last of which is the leading commercial carpet company in the US.

However, the most recent acquisition of Desso, Italy, is the jewel in the company’s crown and this company is a global leader in carpets and sports field solutions. It also produces a range of innovative carpet flooring for commercial applications. Furthermore, it serves the sports market with high-quality artificial turf and a unique, reinforced natural grass system known as ‘Grass Master’.

The company also recently strengthened its commercial and industrial activities in China through a number of strategic transactions. In addition, Tarkett has also acquired the assets of a vinyl flooring facility located near Beijing, which is now fully operational and producing a wide range of Tarkett sustainable flooring products. These strategic acquisitions, transactions and business partnerships are driving the sales of Tarkett products worldwide to new levels.

As part of Tarkett’s on-going commitment to greater sustainability and eco-innovation, the company has launched a new range of phthalatefree and 100 per cent recyclable products that contribute to everyone’s well-being, as well as providing optimal indoor air quality with their very low TVOC emissions. Today Tarkett remains fully committed to sustainable development and the circular economy, with an active and acknowledged eco-innovation strategy. n