In recent years, the flooring industry has undergone a significant shift towards sustainability. For construction companies and building contractors working with vinyl flooring on large commercial projects, embracing recycling initiatives like Recofloor offers a simple yet effective solution to reduce waste generated from project sites and contribute to a greener environment.
Established in 2009 by flooring manufacturers Altro and Polyflor, Recofloor is a UK-wide take-back collection scheme that aims to promote vinyl flooring circularity. By participating in the scheme, construction firms, building and flooring contractors can ensure that waste vinyl flooring gets a second life, reducing the demand for raw materials and recovering PVC for future use.
Benefits of engaging with Recofloor
Reducing environmental impact:
Collecting waste vinyl flooring for recycling diverts it from landfill, helping to reduce the industry’s impact on the environment. By reusing the material in new flooring and other products, Recofloor helps to preserve resources.
Cost savings:
Choosing recycling over landfill is also good for your business. Collecting acceptable commercial vinyl flooring waste for recycling can save up to 75% on waste disposal costs, such as skip hire and gate fees. The benefits and savings can add up on multiple projects.
Altro and Polyflor launched Recofloor to create a sustainable and cost-effective solution to waste vinyl flooring and divert it from landfill. They are fully committed to their respective sustainable approaches by developing sustainable flooring materials that are more readily recyclable and working collaboratively to fund and grow the Recofloor scheme throughout the UK.
Recofloor: Success in action
Recofloor has notched up numerous success stories on all types of projects, showcasing how the scheme benefits the flooring and wider construction industries. You can find them on the Recofloor website at www.recofloor.org.
One example is NHS Grampian’s new Baird Family Hospital and Anchor Centre. Veitchi Flooring, the contractor responsible for laying 23,000 m2 of Polyflor vinyl, successfully saved around 2,300 square metres of vinyl offcuts from landfill by deploying Recofloor on site.
Similarly, JDS Properties & Developments Ltd used Recofloor to collect waste vinyl flooring offcuts – Altro Wood adhesive-free – during the construction of a school in Cornwall. Not only did this align with their commitment to becoming more carbon zero and environmentally friendly, but it also helped reduce their disposal costs, making their operations more cost-effective.
Implementing Recofloor on your projects:
Deploying Recofloor on projects, whether large or small, is straightforward for flooring contractors and construction companies. Collaboration and communication between all parties, including Recofloor are essential for the scheme’s success to keep everyone informed of progress, updates or changes to working practices.
The Recofloor team offers help, resources and Toolkit Talks to ensure a smooth and successful implementation.
Since its inception, Recofloor has collected a total of 6,740 tonnes of waste vinyl flooring, equivalent to nearly 2,500,000m2 of flooring – enough to cover 37,456 average-sized UK classrooms or 236 hospital patient wards. This remarkable achievement has resulted in CO2 savings of 7,909 tonnes, equivalent to taking 2,064 cars off the road each year.
A Greener Future with Recofloor
Recofloor plays a vital role in helping participants to contribute to a greener outlook for the sector by reducing the carbon footprint of their activities through recycling waste vinyl flooring. By engaging with the scheme, building and construction companies can enhance their green credentials, cut disposal costs and contribute to a more sustainable future.
Recofloor Manager, Carla Eslava emphasises that the initiative goes beyond being a mere collection scheme, saying: “It forms a core part of many companies’ sustainability commitments in the flooring sector and the team is proud contribute to advancing sustainability in the industry.”
In conclusion, embracing recycling through Recofloor offers a win-win situation for businesses involved with vinyl flooring. It not only supports their environmental goals but also fosters a more economically viable and greener outlook for the entire construction sector.
