INTERIORS 69 Closing the carpet loop
ADF editor James Parker reports on how one major flooring firm is embracing the challenges of using recycled material but also full reuse of carpet tiles, to achieve sustainability wins at scale across a range of sectors
T
he construction industry is steadily raising the bar when it comes to genuinely sustainable flooring
options. Architects are looking to suppliers to provide verified data on the sustainable credentials of their products, including innovating their supply chains to bring in more recycled content.
The emergence of measured and accredited approaches like closed loop and cradle to grave manufacturing have shifted expectations, and made enlightened architects, clients and contractors seek such options, as well as full-blown reuse in some sectors. One housebuilder, Cora Homes, has gone the whole way to specifying 100% recycled carpets made from recycled plastic bottles and fishing nets.
Interface Flooring is one company which
is ‘walking the talk’ on sustainability, fully embracing the potential of recyclability across a range of customer sectors, on the back of strategic life-cycle analysis of its ranges over the years. One of the leading global carpet tile makers, Interface has been on a “sustainability journey” since 1994, reducing virgin petrochemicals in its widely- specified flooring, and driving reuse of materials. Its ‘mission zero’ strategy in 1996 was targeted at an overall aim to become carbon negative by 2040, and the firm has made huge strides such as 100% renewable- generated electricity for its European manufacturing.
As well as committing to designing “long-lasting products that can be reused,” Interface is increasing its use of recycled and ‘bio-based’ materials in carpet tiles; and reengineering products’ formulations to enable them to be recycled. It says 51% of its ranges (carpet tiles, LVT and nora rubber flooring) are now “recycled or bio-based,” and the firm has managed to achieve 93% recycled content in some carpets. The company has transitioned to ‘biocompatible’ carpet backings, reducing carbon footprint by 30% in those lines. pursuing circular economy approaches,
ADF SEPTEMBER 2024
centred around the CQuest Bio and BioX backing ranges, which consist of a mix of ‘biopolymers’ and ‘recycled fibres,’ and are designed to be separated from the carpet post-use and recycled. Alongside this, Interface is heavily involved in reuse projects for its old Graphlex bitumen- backed tiles.
There are a host of challenges for a firm actively pursuing a much greater component of recycled product. These range from ensuring new processes run smoothly in complex supply chains, meaning close collaboration. But are there further business challenges from reusing tiles rather than selling new ones, even for this global firm? I spoke to Interface’s regional sustainability manager, Becky Gordon, at an event staged by the company at this year’s Clerkenwell Design Week, and asked her where the balance lies from a business point of view, between new and ‘old’? Gordon accepted that finding the balance between selling new and ‘remanufactured’ products was a challenge, but that Interface’s “direction of travel” was that “we’ve got to do the right thing, but we
As well as committing to designing “long-lasting products that can be reused,” Interface is increasing its use of recycled or ‘bio-based’ materials; and ensuring its products’ formulations enable them to be recycled
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