THE VIEW FROM FERFA
The resin flooring association, FeRFA proudly presents the impressive recycling contribution their members have made.
The latest figures show that FeRFA member companies, representing the majority of businesses in the resin flooring sector, have once again increased the amount of waste material they have diverted from landfill. This is an impressive achievement and at the start of this new year, there is undoubtedly a mood within FeRFA to do even better in 2018.
The 2017 figures for diversion of waste from landfill were 2054.68 tonnes, compared with 1877.82 in the previous year. The continuing year-on-year upward trend for the diversion of materials away from landfill shows that the industry as a whole is intent on doing something about this issue. We are also working to increase the amount of diverted waste which is either recycled for future use and/or used to produce energy.
It is very pleasing that FeRFA’s recycling scheme continues to grow in scale and importance. The scheme is now in its eighth year, with more and more FeRFA members engaging in recycling and actively working towards sending ‘Zero Waste to Landfill’. This is an impressive success story for the resin flooring industry, considering that up to the introduction of the recycling scheme in 2011, waste packaging was routinely sent to landfill and amounted to an estimated 500 tonnes annually. The drive to sustainability has been greatly helped by the changes in legislation, with greater focus on streaming waste and identifying recycling opportunities.
The legislation relating to construction waste is very complex, incorporating some laws specific to the industry as well as wider health and safety and environmental laws. New regulations are frequently introduced, with certain requirements coming into force at a later date. As an added complication, since 1998, different laws have applied in Scotland and Northern Ireland, compared to England and Wales.
Much of the current legislation originates from the 2008 EU Waste Framework Directive. This introduced:
• The ‘polluter pays’ principle, that companies should take financial responsibility for any negative environmental impact they create;
12 | A VIEW FROM FERFA
• The concept of extended producer responsibility, which promotes environmentally responsible design and planning;
• The waste hierarchy, which encourages prevention, minimisation, reuse or recycling of waste over landfill disposal.
Since it would be difficult for any one individual to keep on top of the changing legislative environment, a proven approach is to delegate to a third party organisation, such as an outsourced waste management provider with a dedicated environmental and compliance team. They will be able to share the benefit of their expertise to help companies remain compliant across all their activities.
For example, FeRFA’s partners in the recycling scheme are Reconomy UK and Protech Plastics Containers. Reconomy UK provides outsourced recycling and resource management services throughout the UK, and Protech manufactures containers in various sizes and provides a sustainable packaging solution for resin flooring materials, by producing polypropylene containers with 40% recycled material.
FERFA MEMBER, CENTRAL
FLOORING, SHOWS THE WAY Central Flooring has always been a keen supporter of FeRFA’s recycling targets. Back in June last year, their perseverance paid off, when the directors of the company were invited to an awards ceremony held at The Houses of Parliament.
The event celebrated companies who have led their industry with their green approach. Central Flooring won, not just one but two awards! They received a Green Apple Award in recognition of their work towards recycling up to 100% of all the company’s waste. They also won an International Corporate Social Responsibility Award for their charity work and for using sustainable flooring products.
www.ferfa.org.uk www.tomorrowscontractfloors.com
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