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COMMUNITY COLOURS A carpet is put through many daily strains that can cause discolouration and leave it


looking worn and tired, but this doesn’t mean that it needs to be replaced when a fresh new look is required. Georgie Whitworth speaks to Tony Tennant, soon to be a fully- qualified colour and dye technicians, about the recycling revolution that can not only change the colour of carpets but also help to better the community.


When Tony Tennant first set up his carpet cleaning company, Pulizia Solutions, the environment was a only a small consideration. As his business, skills and knowledge expanded, however, Tony’s work became more targeted at recycling and helping both the environment and society.


From restoration work to cleaning and reselling old tiles, the company offers a variety of services to help reduce waste and make use of existing materials.


Now, Tony is setting up a new community interest company, Eviro2Save, which will make use of the business’ carpet cleaning and dying skills to restore floors so that they do not have to be replaced. The business will also take on trainees and teach them new skills in the hope that it can offer opportunities to people in need.


Tony set up Pulizia Solutions in Skelmersdale, Lancashire, in May 2013 where it started as a carpet cleaning service, offering end-of-tenancy cleans for letting agents, as well as cleaning in residential properties.


As the business grew, Tony realised that there was a high demand for carpet cleaning and saw potential to expand his skills. Tony therefore booked himself onto an Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) carpet cleaning course led by carpet cleaning expert Paul Pearce.


Pulizia went on to do a variety of large cleaning jobs, including various healthcare trusts and BBC DIY SOS, before moving onto hard floor cleaning and even helping with restoration projects.


Tony then decided to broaden his knowledge and skills further and enrolled on a course run by Steve Bakker at the Wool Safe Academy.


Tony said: “It was here where I found out about the recycling of textile floor


products, like broadloom carpets but mainly commercial carpet tiles.


“The conversation led me to making contact with Carpet Recycling UK in Stockport where I spoke to Marie Rhodes who gave me some great advice. She recommended that we find a flooring contractor to see if we could get some used carpet tiles to clean and then sell on to see if there was a market in our area.”


“We want to help reduce the cost of replacing


floorcoverings by using our colour cleaning and dyeing techniques to


restore floors so they don't have to replace them.”


way of thinking, but the entire ethos of the company. Before this point, the environment had not been a major part of the business but they did ensure that used chemicals were disposed of in the right way, so as not to pollute the water table or any of the local area. They also ensure that all waste is disposed of down a toilet so that it can go into the proper processing plants.


“Over the last 10 years, the recycling industry has grown massively and we've recently partnered up with greenstream in Cardiff.


It was set up by Ellen Petts


around seven years ago and has since helped to divert several hundred thousand square meters of carpet tiles from landfill into both domestic and commercial properties,” continued Tony.


The cleaning and grading of the tiles consists of brushing any lose soil off the face of the carpet tile then grading into categories. Any tiles that aren't suitable for resale go to energy solutions.


In May, Tony is taking part in a course, held at his own unit in Skelmersdale, Merseyside, to become a qualified Specialist Colour and Dye Technician for Textile Flooring and Restoration. The topics the course will cover include; colour theory, fibre identification, colour application, chemical neutralisation, spot dyeing, Persian rug colour repair and airbrushing.


Tony then got in touch with his friend, and owner of WJD Flooring in Merseyside, who offered them a job at the Sacred Heart School in Leigh where they were tasked with uplifting 400- 500m2


of carpet tiles. Pulizia managed


to save 90% of the tiles, which would otherwise have gone straight to landfill, and brought them back to their unit where the tiles were then cleaned, graded and sold to a number of different places.


This opportunity and the advice that Tony received changed, not only Tony’s


36 | RECLAIMED & GREEN FLOORING


Chris Howell, a colour expert from America, will teach the course that can accommodate for up to 10 trainees. The course will show the trainees how to restore the colour on rugs and textile floor coverings made out of a wool or nylon fabric, as well as how to permanently change the colour of wool and nylon carpets and commercial carpet tiles from a light to dark colour. It will also help them understand the science behind the dye, as well as demonstrating how to use a special app for Apple and Android devices.


www.tomorrowscontractfloors.com


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