‘Know your waste streams’ urges CRUK to show visitors

‘Come prepared with knowledge of your current waste and recycling contracts if you want help in finding sustainable solutions to your carpet and textile flooring waste streams’ is the message from Carpet Recycling UK (CRUK), which will be exhibiting on Stand A45 at the UK’s largest flooring event, the 2023 Harrogate Flooring Show, on 17 – 19 September.

Adnan Zeb-Khan, CRUK Scheme Manager, comments: “Understanding the impact of carpet and textile flooring waste on your business operations helps us to progress conversations that can assist you in finding more sustainable outlets for surplus waste materials such as commercial broadloom carpet, carpet tiles and underlay.”

Collaborative momentum

Through its 17 core members, 136-strong membership and wider network, CRUK continues to build on collaborative momentum and act to reduce textile flooring waste and resource usage ahead of any potential changes to UK waste policy and legislation such as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).

The independent, not-for-profit trade association is urging manufacturers, contractors, retail flooring companies and recyclers to engage with its network to collaborate in putting sustainable processes in place that minimise waste, save on costs and keep resources in the supply chain longer. The aim is to consider reuse and recycling at the design stages and produce products for the circular economy and to implement processes to retrieve them for recycling.

Adnan Zeb-Khan continues: “It’s becoming clearer that we need to prepare for a potential future policy change where an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme could become a reality. Hence the theme of our annual conference in June was to be aware and prepared as an industry for forthcoming changes and for the industry to lead it, and not the government.

“That’s why we are encouraging companies to be ahead of the curve and to work together with a shared interest to make potential EPR policies relevant, workable and as fair as possible to the wider sector.

“We have the opportunity of time to help shape any forthcoming schemes and perhaps even develop our own code of practices to reduce any impact on the sector going forward.”

CRUK’s 17 core members include…

 – Balsan
 – Betap
 – Brintons Carpets
 – Condor Group
 – Cormar Carpets
 – ege Carpets
 – Furlong Flooring
 – Gradus
 – Headlam Group
 – IVC Commercial
 – Likewise Floors
 – Milliken
 – Modulyss
 – Rawson Carpet Solutions
 – Shaw
 – Tarkett
 – Victoria Group

They are taking voluntary producer responsibility for the products they place on the market and striving to reduce waste in production as well as for their customers, helping to create cost savings.

With 80% engagement from the carpet and textile flooring sector, CRUK works with the whole supply chain to develop viable solutions for carpet and other textile flooring waste, such as carpet tiles, event carpets, rugs and underlay. 

CRUK has set up four working groups with its core members, to develop an EPR-based blueprint that is best suited and is workable to their sector. The groups comprise Data Management – necessary to measure performance; Sustainability Pledge – setting out realistic targets; Policy and Legislation – what do we want from an EPR scheme and a Take-Back Scheme – assessing how the sector collaborates to develop such a scheme.

Adnan adds: “Our members have made and continue to make great strides in addressing waste and resource reduction. However, we need to emphasise that those who are not may face difficulties in the future and risk being left behind. It is now the time to act and put your sustainability plans into action. CRUK is here to help you.”

British Furniture Confederation (BCF)

CRUK is now part of the British Furniture Confederation (BCF) which acts to lobby MPs and the government on the challenges being faced by the manufacturing sectors and to help promote favourable policies to help UK-based companies. It is the only organisation within the UK that is representing carpets and flooring.

They are also building close ties with international trade associations like the Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) and the European Carpet and Rug Association (ECRA) to collaborate and share ideas.

Adnan says: “For more than 15 years we have helped the UK manufacturing and recycling sector to find innovative market-based solutions to moving textile flooring waste up the waste hierarchy. Collectively with reuse companies, recyclers and the waste industry, we need to work together to find more end-of-life solutions for the waste being produced and help to find value in the material stream.

“At the Harrogate Flooring Show, come prepared with knowledge and information of your waste streams and costs so that we can advise you on the best environmentally sustainable solution. We look forward to welcoming you on our stand and explaining how CRUK can help you and be an integral part of your business going forward.”

For more information, email: [email protected] or visit www.carpetrecyclinguk.com.