SUSTAINABLE SUPPLIER OF THE YEAR – WASTE/RECYCLING
RUNNER UP Recofloor
being landfilled. Recofloor, the Vinyl Take-Back Scheme was established by Altro and Polyflor, two of the leading UK manufacturers of vinyl flooring, in May 2009. The collection scheme aims to recover as much vinyl flooring from as many different waste streams and sources as possible. Three main challenges in setting up the scheme were: how to collect the vinyl, how to process the material and how to engage potential members.
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Significant effort and achievement by flooring manufacturers, distributors and contractors is overcoming a number of challenges to increase the industry’s sustainability and lower its carbon footprint.
Within 18 months, this successful scheme has snowballed with 250 active members across the UK and Ireland; comprising flooring contractors, drop-off sites at flooring distributors and waste transfer stations, as well as construction projects at schools, hospitals and leading retail stores.
The UK construction industry generates around 120 million tonnes of waste annually. Of this material, it is estimated there are around 36,000 tonnes of available collectable uplifted vinyl flooring and over 7,000 tonnes of vinyl
ecofloor is the first industry-led vinyl flooring take-back scheme of its kind in the UK. It was set up to tackle the growing volumes of waste that were
off-cuts. This material is currently landfilled. Historically there’s been little interest among manufacturers in recycling post use flooring because in economic terms, the cost of logistics and sorting of waste can quickly become greater than the end product is worth. So it was cheaper and easier to landfill it. Today’s increased ecological awareness means the UK construction industry, in particular, is under pressure to reduce its environmental impact. This is currently being driven by government legislation, marketplace initiatives such as the WRAP commitment to Halving Waste to Landfill by 2012 (of which Recofloor is a member) and customers with their own corporate sustainability programmes. Manufacturers are taking responsibility for driving sustainability across the supply chain.
Altro and Polyflor invested in new processing equipment for vinyl off-cuts left over from the manufacturing process and new flooring installations. A major breakthrough that helped to launch Recofloor was the ability to recycle safety flooring, which was previously thought impossible. Outlets were found for end-of- life vinyl with traffic calming product manufacturers.
The flooring manufacturers collect waste vinyl using their existing transport network. The material is picked up either by backload or diversion to a nearby site while delivering in a given area. Drop-off sites are located at waste transfer stations
and flooring distributors for local contractors to deposit waste vinyl. This strategy greatly reduces the carbon impact of the scheme.
Material is collected from flooring contractors, construction sites, schools, hospitals, large PFI sites – from anywhere and anyone who can collect waste vinyl for the scheme. Uniquely, Recofloor can accept clean post-installation vinyl from any source and end-of-life vinyl fitting the recycler’s specification. Clean post-installation vinyl off-cuts are used by Altro and Polyflor to make new vinyl flooring. Collected material is recycled back into new flooring products, irrespective of manufacturer. Uplifted post- consumer vinyl is bulked up and used by road calming product manufacturers to make traffic cones and road barrier bases.
Recofloor is a unique example of two major competitors working collaboratively to promote the sustainability of their product – a major achievement and an important step for the vinyl flooring sector as a whole.
All major stakeholders in the vinyl flooring sector, from distributors to flooring contractors and construction companies, are being engaged. Although created by Altro and Polyflor, Recofloor’s vision is to recruit the rest of the vinyl flooring manufacturers active within the UK.
Recofloor overcomes the cost barriers to collecting and sorting post use vinyl
Recofloor Waste flooring bulk bags at Polyflor site
56| SUSTAINABLE FM AWARDS 2010
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