Westcotes Flooring Company: “Recycling helps build a better future for everyone”

Carl Harper, Managing Director of the London office, was the driving force behind introducing the recycling concept to the main contractor, Simons Construction Group. Westcotes Flooring Company also has an office in Leicester, which ensures they can offer a truly nationwide service.

Carl commented: “Recofloor fits perfectly with the recycling systems for other materials, such as timber, cardboard and plasterboard, that are already in place on most construction sites. When we first brought Recofloor to the attention of Stuart Partlow, Project Manager on the hospital scheme, he was very much in favour of it as recycling is something that is close to his heart.”

Westcotes installed 7,000 sqm of Luxury Vinyl Tiles (LVT’s) and 3,000sqm of smooth and safety flooring at the Circle Birmingham Hospital, constructed for Circle Health on the former BBC Pebble Mill site in Edgbaston. Opening in 2019, the hospital will provide three operating theatres (expandable to six), an endoscopy procedure room, and eighteen in-patient bedrooms. Rehabilitation beds and comprehensive rehabilitation facilities for patients with musculoskeletal and neurological conditions are also planned.

As the flooring was installed, fitters collected the vinyl offcuts in Recofloor bulk bags. The bags were kept on pallets so that full ones could be wheeled out for collection from the site when new vinyl was delivered. The bags kept the offcut waste segregated according to material type, ensuring that quality was maintained for eventual recycling. In total, thirteen bags – or just over three tonnes – of installation offcuts were recycled from the project.

Adam Conway, Contracts Director at Westcotes Flooring Company said: “Typical installation wastage for vinyl flooring is around 15% and 20%, while between 3% to 5% of LVT is wasted; so a lot of material would end up in skips and landfill. This is now being recycled and obviously being put to good use and turned into new vinyl flooring.

“For me, Recofloor is a very good scheme. If everyone does a little bit for the environment, then it’s building a better future for the next generation and everyone.”

Recofloor was founded by leading flooring manufacturers Polyflor and Altro in 2009 to divert waste vinyl flooring from landfill. Over that time, a total of more than 4,400 tonnes of recycled waste vinyl has gone back into new products – including flooring*.

Operating across the UK and Ireland, the scheme collects post-installation flooring and offcuts from a wide variety of projects in diverse sectors, from healthcare to education. Flooring contractors contribute to the majority of collections.

*Recofloor tonnes were correct when the case study was published. For the most up to date figures, please contact the Recofloor team 0161 355 7618.

For more information on Westcotes Flooring, please contact them on:

Tel: 01455 284 433
Email: info@westcotesflooring.co.uk
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