Recofloor, a champion for sustainability in the flooring sector, will be celebrating 10 years of recycling waste vinyl flooring in 2019
Since its 2009 inception by flooring manufacturers Altro and Polyflor, the UK’s award-winning Take Back scheme has recycled an impressive total of 4,300 tonnes of waste vinyl material – with rising collections breaking records year-on-year.
Set up by the two companies to tackle growing volumes of waste vinyl flooring being sent to landfill, Recofloor now has well over 700 collectors throughout the UK and Ireland, plus more than 60 drop-off sites accepting waste vinyl flooring.
Smooth and safety vinyl offcuts and roll ends, uplifted smooth vinyl, luxury vinyl tiles (LVT) and loose lay are recycled back into new products, including flooring manufactured by Altro and Polyflor. The scheme is widely acknowledged as a leading example of manufacturers taking responsibility for driving sustainability across the flooring industry.
Bob Smith, Polyflor’s Technical Director said: “Plastics are hot news at the moment and we are proud to be instrumental in recycling our waste vinyl flooring. We, as well as Altro, invest significant amounts of time, energy and money into the scheme.
“In 2017, we recycled 563 tonnes; that’s enough material to make 200,000m² of new flooring. Recofloor is ahead of the game in the UK and Europe!”
Barry Hall, Altro’s Manufacturing and Technical Director commented: “Companies working with Recofloor are leading the way in terms of resource recovery and circular economy. This takeback scheme is helping Altro in terms of its sustainability programme and ambitious growth plans.”
Praising members’ commitment, Recofloor’s Project Officer Joe Gardner adds: “We are truly proud of our achievements over the past decade and certainly credit is due to all our members – flooring companies, contractors and distributors – who continue to work tirelessly to support the scheme. Everyone deserves a big pat on the back for their efforts and enthusiasm.”
Recofloor’s engagement throughout the entire flooring supply chain is crucial to powering its success; helping members to save up to 70% on disposal costs while reducing their environmental impact.
From the outset Recofloor made an impact, winning several high-profile environmental and innovation awards for its recycling achievements within the scheme’s first five years. In 2011, more than 450 tonnes were collected during that single year. In 2013, the scheme was recognised with a Green Apple Gold Award for Environmental Best Practice.
By the time Recofloor reached its fifth birthday in 2014, the scheme had toppled a 2,000-tonnes collection milestone. 2015 saw over 100 new members join Recofloor and by that year, the scheme had saved more than 2,000 tonnes of CO2.
Further awards recognition was to come, including the Letsrecycle.com Award for Excellence in Recycling & Waste Management in 2016. The following year, Recofloor broke through the 3,000-tonnes collection total and had more than 1,500 Twitter followers.
Joe adds: “We’ve come a long way in ten years, but there’s still so much Recofloor can do to further advance sustainability in this sector and help our members improve their environmental credentials too. Why don’t you join us – and join in our 10th anniversary celebrations too? But more of that to come later!”
