“We’re ahead of the game!” was an appropriate theme running throughout the Recofloor 2018 Awards Event at Liverpool Football Club’s Anfield Ground which celebrated the environmental commitment of its vinyl flooring recycling champions.
Flooring companies, contractors and distributors received trophies and certificates in ten major award categories, plus Gold, Silver and Bronze groupings, from guest host England football legend Kevin Keegan.
These companies collected 563 tonnes of waste vinyl flooring through the takeback scheme in 2017, setting a new scheme record.
Kevin praised Polyflor and Altro’s scheme as ‘real recycling with an end product’, adding: “This is a great scheme; I’m very impressed. Waste flooring has to be got rid of. So if it can be put in a rubbish bin where it’s thrown out, or into a special bin where it can be recycled, why wouldn’t you?”
Underlining their commitment to the scheme, Mayfield’s Managing Director, Anthony Francis said: “Our founder, my late father Eric immediately saw benefits in the Recofloor scheme and jumped on board from Day One. Recofloor brings many benefits, such as cost savings on disposal and reducing environmental impact. Everyone wants to help with their carbon footprint. As a company, we’re proud to say we’re doing our part.
“The scheme has definitely had a direct influence on my company securing a lot of contracts with local authorities and NHS Trusts who are also looking to further their green credentials with their sustainability targets.”
Congratulating the efforts of 700-plus members, Polyflor’s Technical Director Bob Smith said: “Plastics and single-use plastics are hot news at the moment and we’re proud to be instrumental in recycling PVC flooring; we’re ahead of the game, not only in the UK but also in Europe! We and Altro invest significant amounts of time, energy and money into the scheme. It’s a large part of Polyflor’s sustainability system.”
Since its 2009 inception by leading flooring manufacturers Polyflor and Altro, Recofloor has collected 3,943 tonnes of smooth and safety vinyl offcuts and roll ends, uplifted smooth vinyl, luxury vinyl tiles (LVT) and loose lay, which are recycled back into new products, including flooring. This total equates to 1,314,217 sq m of flooring – enough to cover 181 Anfield pitches or to make 8,888,888 World Cup footballs.
The main winners in the seventh annual awards were Carpets ‘N’ Carpets Ltd; Birch Distribution, Sheffield; County Contract Flooring; Ryjock Flooring Ltd; SW Flooring; Fantasy Flooring Ltd; MSD Flooring Ltd; S&D Flooring Ltd; MCD Kidderminster and Mayfield Floors.
Barry Hall, Altro’s Manufacturing and Technical Manager, said the ‘exceptionally high standard’ of this year’s entries made judging a tough task. Entries were judged mainly on last year’s achievements, while also recognising collectors’ significant contributions in various ways.
Barry added: “Companies entering the awards are leading the way in terms of resource recovery and circular economy. Recofloor is helping Altro in terms of its sustainability programme and ambitious growth plans.”
In his presentation, Anthony Francis, Managing Director of Mayfield Floors highlighted the value of Recofloor, saying: “In this industry, it’s important to have integrity and you can’t demonstrate that much more than in helping to save the planet.”
Advice from Recofloor’s Digital Marketing Administrator Joe Gardner on how flooring contractors can use social media effectively to promote their businesses was well received. “Getting an award confirms that you’re a valuable asset to recycling and to yourselves; which is even better considering that you are saving yourselves money. We tweet regularly throughout the year. Everyone’s on social media these days and it’s a great way to spread the message and see trends in the flooring industry.”
A Recofloor member for seven years, Carpets ‘N’ Carpets Ltd won Contractor of the Year and Middlesex Flooring Ltd was highly commended. Distributors play a significant role in the scheme’s success by extending their services to allow fitters to drop off smaller volumes of waste vinyl flooring at their sites. Birch Distribution, Sheffield was named Distributor of the Year and MCD Kidderminster was highly commended.
Drop-Off Site User of the Year went to Droitwich-based County Contract Flooring and Skylark Flooring Ltd was highly commended. For the second year running, Ryjock Flooring Ltd scooped Project of the Year award and Middlesex Flooring Ltd was highly commended.
Wayne Conlan, Managing Director of Ryjock Flooring: “We’re honoured to have won an award for the second year running. On all our projects now, the fitters are getting more and more involved in Recofloor. It’s beginning to work!”
Mark Purnell of Fantasy Flooring was named Recofloor Champion and Jeff Abbott of Top Floors (East Anglia) Ltd was highly commended. Anthony Purnell, Director at Fantasy Flooring said: “Recofloor has taken us to a whole new level and opened up new business opportunities for us. We are proud of our recycling achievements and always post the news on our website.”
Greatest Improver went to SW Flooring with a 560% increase in tonnage collected compared to the previous year. JDF Flooring and The Headlam Group, Gateshead took second and third places respectively.
S&D Flooring Specialists Ltd took the Brand Ambassador award for the second year running.
Best Newcomer went to MSD Flooring Ltd and Fineweave Carpets Ltd was highly commended.
The Longstanding Service Award was presented to Mayfield Floors for their ‘consistent brilliance’ since joining Recofloor from the start, collecting well over 100 tonnes of good quality, uncontaminated vinyl flooring.
The final award; the Outstanding Achievement Award was presented to MCD Kidderminster.
Material collected by Recofloor’s 700-plus members is recycled back into products, including new flooring, which benefits the environment and can reduce collectors’ waste disposal costs by up to 70%.
Reporting on the scheme’s 2017 achievements, Recofloor Manager Jane Gardner said the current high media profile of plastics presents a ‘great opportunity within Recofloor to show we are, by far, ahead of the game’.
“Recofloor is a real example of best practice in the waste management and construction sectors,” she said. “To my knowledge there is no other scheme that has worked as successfully as this where the industry has pulled together; two competing companies are pulling together on one topic of waste and sustainability to make recycling happen. I think that is unique.
“Recofloor is demonstrating best practice by keeping the vinyl out of the general waste stream, that’s the key to it. You can even recycle the flooring from a very tight stairwell! We are leading the way in plastics recycling and construction sectors. I think more companies in the manufacturing sector in the UK, Europe and globally will have to start thinking like this in order to make a real difference and effect real change.”
