Co-ordinated action by Recofloor, Altro, Hillside Contracts Ltd and BAM Construct UK led to Altro and Polyflor’s commercial waste vinyl flooring collection scheme collecting an estimated 1.6 tonnes of material from a new school flooring project in Northamptonshire, saving 1.88 tonnes* of CO2 emissions, equivalent to nine average-sized UK classrooms.

Project:

Weldon Village Academy, near Corby is a new secondary school with 1,500 students which opened in September 2023. BAM Construct UK and Mott MacDonald built the state-of-the-art three-storey facility. The flooring – 3,000 square metres of Altro Xpress Lay – was fitted by Hillside Contracts Ltd, a Recofloor member and one of the largest flooring contractors in the Midlands.

Recofloor deployment

Collaboration from Altro sales representatives facilitated a meeting for the Recofloor team at the project site where the collection scheme was introduced to a supportive BAM Construct team. BAM’s team approached Hillside and communication between the two companies led to setting up Recofloor’s collection services for the 20-week duration of the vinyl flooring installation.

Hillside’s Contracts Manager, Tom Sheppard says the decision to deploy Recofloor started at the tender stage. “There was an initial meeting with Altro prior to our starting work on site. Then it was down to communication between me and BAM regarding organisational details. We then got in touch with Recofloor and made everything happen, such as delivery of the lockable Recofloor bins.”

Tom says the process all went smoothly and that “it was quite easy to organise”. Hillside paid the Recofloor collection fees and were reimbursed by BAM.

An important consideration when deploying Recofloor on any project is to make other trades aware of the scheme’s operation on site to ensure that collected material is kept separate and free from contamination.

Tom explains that this was addressed from the outset with messages sent round the contractors’ WhatsApp groups informing them that the Recofloor lockable bins were solely used to collect vinyl offcuts. “There was also a general briefing and an email sent to all on site. Everyone was made aware and there was clear signage to say these recycling bins were just for Hillside’s use.”

Lockable Recofloor bins were used to keep the collected material clean and secure. They were sited in a central area on the ground floor so that they were the shortest distance from any part of the building.

Recofloor is the flooring sector’s sustainable take-back scheme for commercial waste vinyl generated from all types of projects. Material is recycled and used in new products, including flooring. If you are thinking of deploying Recofloor on a project site, please get in touch to discuss your requirements.

*This calculation is based on several factors such as the volumes collected, distance travelled, transport vehicles’ efficiency and the material processing and recycling process of displacing concrete in traffic management products, the primary application for the recycled flooring.