The fourth major report by Polyflor on it’s continuing
mission to develop an environmentally and economically sustainable business has
been released. The report shows that significant progress has been made across
key areas, including the collection and recycling of post-consumer waste PVC, enhanced energy and water
efficiency, and a further reduction of wet and dry site waste.
Polyflor has recycled its own production waste ever since
manufacturing began back in the 1950s and recycled 12,005 tonnes in 2008, the
company now also recycles an increasing amount of post consumer waste vinyl and
has successfully recycled safety flooring back into new product, the new report
reveals. Where back to product recycling is not feasible, uplifted flooring is
downcycled into other items such as traffic cones.
Even with a large breadth of product ranges and volume,
Polyflor homogeneous products now contain an average of 25% recycled material
and luxury vinyl tiles an average of 15%.
Involvement in the Vinyl 2010 European recycling scheme and
in the Recovinyl UK vinyl recovery scheme continues to be successful –
the PVC industry has already surpassed the Vinyl 2010 commitment and Recovinyl
figures also continue to increase – and collection and recycling of post-consumer
waste has been one of the biggest success stories over the last year, from 500
tonnes in 2007 to 736 tonnes in 2008. There has been a particular surge since
January this year, following increased marketing communications with
contractors and distributors.
The combination of Polyflor’s own independent waste recovery
schemes and involvement with Recovinyl and WRAP has produced a relatively
modest but important increase in post-consumer waste collection, sorting,
conditioning and recycling, providing a firm base for significant future growth
in this vital area.
Success in recycling is reflected throughout the world.
Polyflor Australia has established a local waste collection scheme which is
showing great promise. Scandinavia has a long history of successful recycling
and Polyflor has plugged into this by establishing site collection and recovery
schemes in Norway and Sweden which enable waste to be either sent back to
Britain (where applicable and efficient) or to locally based vinyl
manufacturers for recycling. Recovery schemes are also operating in Germany and
Ireland.
Worldwide sales continue to grow year on year – but
efforts to reduce consequent site waste have been dramatically successful.
Total wet waste in 2008 was only 127 tonnes, an impressive reduction of 80% on
2000, and new recycling initiatives have also seen a significant fall in dry
waste of 44% since 2000. In 2008 the company recycled 53 tonnes of wood, 87
tonnes of cardboard, 28 tonnes of plastic rollwrap, 7.3 tonnes of paper and 212
tonnes of liquid waste.
In another area of saving, Polyflor has minimised the use of
mains water by collecting and storing rainwater for use in the manufacturing
process. Recycled water now accounts for 96% of manufacturing requirements.
A series of production process initiatives has seen a 36%
reduction in the energy used in manufacturing over the past eight years.
Automatic shutdown systems have been installed to ensure machinery is switched
off when not is use; lighting optimisers across the site are producing energy
savings of 25%; metering and monitoring systems for air, steam and all energy
usage continually identify leakages, unnecessary use and new ways to reduce
energy use.
Overall, carbon emissions – independently audited by
The Carbon Trust – have to date been cut by 13,370 tonnes since 2000 and
the aim now is to measure the total carbon emissions of the business to
properly analyse progress and set challenging new reduction targets.
Polyflor’s new brochure highlights the life cycle analysis
of vinyl flooring and the environmental performance and benefits, which are
reflected in BRE Global generic ratings and Polyflor’s individually assessed
ratings. Reference is also made to other environmental and sustainable guides
and assessment methods including LEED within North America and Ecospecifier in
Australia.
The feasibility of renewable energy sources, including solar
and wind, is also being looked at along with ways to greatly increase and
improve recycling capacity and capabilities.
