FLOORINGNEWS

Recofloor aids zero waste

Collaboration with Recofloor can assist architects, specifiers and construction companies with minimising CO2 emissions and help towards achieving zero waste targets on projects where vinyl flooring is being specified.

With growing pressure on the construction industry to reduce its carbon footprint, Recofloor offers a sustainable, straightforward and affordable solution to reduce and recycle the waste generated from project sites.

Set up in 2009 by flooring manufacturers Altro and Polyflor to preserve vinyl flooring circularity, Recofloor is a reliable take-back collection service for this recyclable material. Collecting vinyl flooring through Recofloor ensures waste vinyl flooring gets a second life beyond the product’s first use, saving on raw material resources and recovering PVC for future reuse.

Getting involved with Recofloor is a straightforward process. Architects and specifiers can specify Recofloor on their project tender documents for both uplifted vinyl materials being discarded during a refurbishment project and for waste vinyl offcuts created during the project.

The scheme can then be deployed by anyone involved in the project and flooring contractors can be briefed by a Recofloor representative for proper collection of the material. They can attend meetings to explain how the scheme works to the team onsite, which will facilitate smooth collections. Bulk waste can be collected in one go, or at stages during a project.

Building a relationship with Recofloor is beneficial for specifiers, as Scheme Manager Carla Eslava explains: “When specifiers come on board with us, they can use Recofloor as proof of their efforts towards achieving zero waste targets, for minimising their projects’ CO2 emissions and for adopting greener work practices. We can also provide a Statement Letter which certifies your participation, including volumes diverted from landfill.

“As a collection service for commercial waste vinyl flooring, Recofloor offers savings on carbon emissions and waste disposal, so it’s friendly to the environment as well as to your project costs.”

The UK-wide scheme collects a range of flooring types, such as Luxury Vinyl Tiles (LVTs), smooth, safety and loose lay vinyl offcuts, roll-ends as well as uplifted smooth and loose lay vinyl. Altro and Polyflor support the scheme by using their vehicles to backhaul the Recofloor collections, where possible, when new flooring is delivered.

All the material collected by Recofloor goes back to Polyflor and Altro’s UK plants for sorting. Suitable material is recycled into new flooring, while the rest is sent to a UK recycler for use in traffic management products, such as traffic cones and sign bases.

So, what are the carbon savings? Recofloor has calculated that, on average, recycling PVC flooring through its scheme is estimated to save 1.17 tonnes of CO2 for every tonne of flooring recycled. This calculation is based on displacing the concrete in traffic management products, the primary application for the recycled flooring.

T 0161 355 7618 www.recofloor.org