flooring
Being 100 per cent recyclable, Altro
XpressLay contributes to reducing the environmental impact of a flooring specification with an A+ BRE Generic Green Guide Rating for Safety Flooring and, at a thickness of 2.2mm and a slip resistance rating of equal to or greater than 36 TRRL, it is both durable and practical. The flooring was used extensively across
many venues from the Basketball Arena and Athlete’s Dining Area to the Blood Testing Unit and Media Centre. And after London 2012, it was reused in a range of new installations including Barnado’s, educational establishments and social housing. This was the first time the flooring had been reused on such a large scale and was vital in contributing to the Olympics’ vision of leaving a legacy. Where re-use of the flooring was not
possible, the ODA policy required a take- back scheme. In 2008, Altro installed the world's first safety flooring recycling system and, a year later, became a founder member of Recofloor, the UK's first vinyl take-back scheme.
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composition of the flooring and, in particular, the levels of heavy metals it contained. The ODA insisted that the non- recycled content of PVC did not contain any lead, mercury or cadmium stabilisers and made it clear that suppliers would be challenged about including older recycled content which may contain these substances. Altro was able to demonstrate that none of its products contained the heavy metals the ODA were most concerned about and, in fact, only use barium zinc or calcium zinc stabilisers. It was also important that Altro could
show that it procures PVC with a recycled content of at least 30 per cent. Although it wasn’t able to do this for all of its products, the company was able to demonstrate a level of 20 per cent in, for example, Altro Stronghold, which was used in the McDonalds Restaurant area. The company increases the recycled content of some of its products using
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recycled PVC factory waste. Altro Stronghold also contains 10 per cent post- consumer recycled content in the form of recycled glass from the UK wine bottles industry, which helped to meet the criteria. Recently, the flooring industry has been debating the use of phthalate plasticisers and their effect on sustainability. The ODA stipulated that only PVC produced using non phthalate plasticisers would be acceptable. Altro was able to support this policy, routinely avoiding the use of phthalates in its safety flooring products, preferring to use phosphate esters and bio plasticisers manufactured from maize. The disposal and recyclability of the
safety flooring was also of specific interest to the ODA, particularly where the flooring was only going to be used temporarily. Here, Altro’s sustainability proposition included the installation of Altro XpressLay, the world’s first adhesive-free safety flooring that can be taken up easily post- installation for re-use or recycling.
Awarding green practice
Since the launch of its Steps to Sustainability Programme, Altro has won a number of awards including:
•Arup Award for Sustainable Manufacturing 2008
•Best Green Companies Award 2009
•Business in the Community Award 2010
•Green Apple Award 2011
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