Recofloor breaks through 7,000-tonne milestone

More than 7,000 tonnes of waste vinyl flooring have been collected and recycled through Recofloor since the scheme was founded by Altro and Polyflor in 2009.

Through the sustainable collection service for commercial waste vinyl flooring, material is recycled back into new flooring, as well as traffic management products. Recofloor is widely regarded as a great example of circularity in the flooring sector.

To date, Recofloor’s collection of 7,060 tonnes has produced 8,282 tonnes of carbon savings – equivalent to taking 2,161 cars off the road for a year.

It also equates to 2,353,000 square metres of vinyl flooring having been recycled. The carbon savings estimate is based on displacing concrete in traffic management products, the main application for the recycled flooring.

On reaching the major environmental milestone at the beginning of 2024, Recofloor Scheme Manager, Carla Eslava (pictured above), notes that tonnages collected from flooring contractors in 2023 were up to pre-pandemic volumes.

“The highlight was the larger volumes from contractors – up 12% compared to 2022 – helped by the deployment of the scheme on more major project sites and increased engagement with main contractors,” she says.

Latest data for 2023 shows that a total of 475 tonnes was collected through Recofloor – broadly in line with expectations – and saving 557 tonnes of carbon emissions that year. Of the 475 tonnes collected, 51% came from flooring contractors and their projects and 33% came from the distributors’ drop-off points.

Recofloor benefits

Benefits for Recofloor members include gaining environmental points when they apply for BREEAM certification and the Recofloor team can help with this process by providing a collection certificate and statement letters highlighting the volumes collected and the CO2 savings.

Collecting acceptable commercial vinyl flooring waste for recycling can save up to 70% on waste disposal costs, such as skip hire and gate fees. The benefits and savings can add up on multiple projects. From April 2024, the standard rate of landfill tax will rise to £126.15 per tonne and the lower rate will increase to £4.05 per tonne.

Carla continues: “Another positive is that we are doing a lot of work with main contractors in promoting the scheme through meetings and presentations to generate awareness.

“That opens up a door for when the flooring contractor is on site and to make deploying Recofloor on a project a lot easier.”

Last year, Recofloor was deployed on nine substantial projects with six of these continuing collections into 2024. These projects included retail, school and hospital sites across the UK.

Carla adds: “In 2024, we will focus on increasing the number of projects using Recofloor and encouraging contractors to talk to us about their plans so that we can be involved from the outset. For the distributors, we’ll support them through calls and pop-up visits if we are in the area.”

Recofloor is the UK’s leading vinyl take back scheme. It is free to join and simple to use. To find out more, go to www.recofloor.org or contact Recofloor on 0161 355 7618 or at [email protected].