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Recofloor is inviting entries for its annual 2017 Awards Event that recognises members’ achievements and dedication to the UK’s vinyl flooring recycling scheme. Entries can be submitted online at www.recofloor.org and winners will be announced at the historic Oval cricket ground on March 29th 2017.

Launched seven years ago by leading flooring manufacturers Polyflor and Altro, more than 3,000 tonnes of waste vinyl flooring have now been recycled through Recofloor back into new flooring and other products.

Alongside the Recofloor Gold, Silver and Bronze awards, there are several award categories which are open for entry submissions. The Contractor of the Year category acknowledges collectors who have demonstrated commitment to the scheme, while ?Distributor of the Year recognises distributors who play a significant role in the scheme’s success by promoting it to their customers. Two new categories are introduced this year, Project of the Year and Brand Ambassador.

Flooring contractors or fitters who regularly drop off clean good quality waste vinyl suitable for recycling at one of over 60 drop-off sites are recognised in the Drop-off Site User of the Year. While those who’ve gone that ‘extra mile’ to actively promote and drive the scheme could be crowned Recofloor Champion.

Gold, Silver and Bronze awards are calculated by the tonnage collected in relation to the average number of fitters the company employs.

One company that has embraced the scheme having won a Bronze Award in 2015 and two awards in 2016 – a Silver Award and 3rd place in Greatest Improver is Rudge Brothers & James. The Bristol-based commercial flooring company is motivated to ‘go for Gold’ after hosting Recofloor training for its staff.

Director Jim Heal says: “This valuable training has helped our staff to understand what recycling we’ve done and how we can take this forward. It has fired their enthusiasm for the scheme and what we as a company can achieve.

“Currently clean offcuts are sent back from our premises for recycling, but we are planning to engage Recofloor on site collections for our bigger flooring jobs in the future. Education is essential in helping to drive the scheme and bringing everyone on board with Recofloor.”

More and more flooring companies are requesting training sessions, according to Recofloor’s Project Officer Carla Eslava who says it is helping to steadily build volumes for recycling. Comprehensive training is offered to all members so they can collect and recycle their waste vinyl flooring most effectively.

Carla adds: “Each session is designed to suit the needs of those participating, whether as a ‘Toolbox Talk’ or a presentation and all aspects of how the scheme works are covered. Just give our friendly team a call and we’ll do the rest!”

Recofloor has 700-plus collectors and more than 60 drop-off sites across the UK and Ireland. Signing up is easy and further information about Recofloor is available from www.recofloor.

Recofloor has launched its Summer Promotion giving flooring contractors who recycle their waste vinyl flooring throughout August the chance to win an ‘unforgettable experience’ with a Red Letter Days Gift Card.

Every flooring company raising a Recofloor collection throughout August will be entered into a draw with a chance to win one of three £100 Red Letter Days Gift Cards. The prizes will be offered to the first three names chosen at random and the draw is open to new and existing Recofloor members who raise a collection during August - (1st – 31st).

So whether you fancy the opportunity to try extreme rally driving, a hot air balloon ride or simply indulge in a relaxing meal for two, there’s a Red Letter Days experience covering a wide range of activities and interests to suit everybody.

Since leading flooring manufacturers Polyflor and Altro launched Recofloor in 2009, nearly 3,000 tonnes of waste vinyl flooring has been recycled through the scheme; equivalent to one million square metres of flooring and enough to cover 138 football stadiums.

If you’re not a Recofloor member but want to make significant savings on disposal costs and reduce the environmental impact of waste vinyl flooring material, it’s easy to sign up. To join the scheme, phone or email Recofloor to register your company. You will be entered into the prize draw every time you raise a collection during August.

For contractors, the minimum collection requirement is two full bulk bags and for distributors, two full blue bins. All collections must be booked in by 5pm on Wednesday 31st August 2016. Collections do not have to be completed in August.

Names will be entered into a draw and three winners will be chosen at random on Thursday 1st September 2016. The winners (one prize per company) will be notified on Friday 2nd September 2016 and details will be provided on the Recofloor website – www.recofloor.org. Visit our website for full terms and conditions.

Companies can request a collection by phone: 0161 355 7618, email: info@recofloor.org or fill out an online form on the Recofloor website.

Recofloor’s Project Officer Carla Eslava comments: “Once again our popular August promotion looks set to attract much attention from both existing members and new companies. We look forward to welcoming you; just phone or email us to register.

“We aim to make recycling post-installation vinyl flooring off-cuts and uplifted vinyl flooring easy with 700-plus Recofloor collectors and more than 60 drop-off sites across the UK and Ireland.”

Further information about Recofloor is available from www.recofloor.org. Contact 0161 355 7618 or email info@recofloor.org.

Carpet Recycling UK’s recent eighth Annual Conference and Awards Event celebrated the successes and achievements of its resource recovery ‘champions’ at the home of Premier League winners Leicester City Football Club.

The packed programme at this ‘inspirational’ venue showcased the achievements and important contributions by members – both individuals and organisations – who have helped to drive forward greater sustainability in the sector.

Innovative schemes included carpet tile reuse supporting disadvantaged people, recycled fibres turned into horticultural growing mats and collecting waste carpet from retailers for energy recovery. Around 400,000 tonnes of waste carpet arises annually in the UK of which 31% (125,000 tonnes) was diverted from landfill via reuse, recycling and energy recovery in 2015. CRUK’s target is 60% diversion from landfill by 2020.

While energy recovery, the equestrian and automotive/leisure sectors offer opportunities for future growth in the UK, CRUK Director Laurance Bird emphasised that segregating carpet waste for reuse and recycling remains a key challenge, particularly for retailers, with whom they’ve been working to develop new solutions.

Thanking CRUK’s core funders Cormar Carpets, Lifestyle Floors/Headlam, Desso, ege, Milliken, Balsan and Marlings for their on-going support, Laurance said: “In taking a voluntary producer responsibility positioning within the market place, they are recognised as leaders for sustainability within the carpet value chain.”
Looking ahead, CRUK will continue to promote design for easier resource recovery, identify new recycling technologies for carpet materials and to develop further recycling outlets and markets in line with Circular Economy principles.

In his keynote speech, guest host celebrity architect and designer Oliver Heath, who presented the Awards for Good Practice, outlined drivers for sustainable design and how reuse/recycling concepts can be incorporated within aspirational interior design.

CRUK Awards celebrate members’ carpet reuse and recycling successes

Carpet Recycling UK’s third annual awards ceremony celebrated the achievements of members who have demonstrated innovation, commitment and best practice in the sector. Three special awards, introduced for the first time this year, reward winners based on their company’s activity as a CRUK member.

Graham Kempton of Designer Contracts Ltd was named Recycling Champion for his commitment to making carpet recycling work by reorganising delivery routes and increasing the capacity to collect more waste. Tony Winder of Winder Carpets Ltd and Neil Green of Made by U Ltd were Highly Commended.

Designer Contracts Ltd also won the Take Back Partner of the Year award for the second year running for working ‘tirelessly to make recycling happen’ and working closely with their recycling partners. Linney Cooper and Branagan Flooring Services were Highly Commended.

Carpet Tile Recycling was named Reuse M

The UK’s record-breaking Recovinyl performance contributed 21% - or 107,593 tonnes – to the total recycled through the PVC industry’s recycling scheme in 2015.

It’s an increase of 13% compared to the previous year (2014: 95,525) and represents the equivalent of nearly 4.3 million PVC-U windows or 426,662 houses (assuming each house has 10 windows). That’s enough to glaze all the homes in Birmingham .

A total of 508,154 tonnes of waste PVC was recycled through Recovinyl last year across its 16 European member countries. The Recovinyl network currently comprises 163 companies.

Recovinyl is an operational arm of VinylPlus, the European PVC industry sustainable development programme, which is tackling the sustainability challenges for PVC and delivery of current recycling targets to 2020.

Waste PVC-U profiles (61,866 tonnes) comprised more than half of the UK’s recycling achievement in 2015, with pipes, rigid and flexible PVC films and cables making up the rest.

“The recycling of PVC continues to grow in line with continued investment in recycling infrastructure throughout the country and robust commitment from the sector. It’s a remarkable achievement that demonstrates the sustainability of this readily-recyclable material,” comments Project Manager Jane Gardner of Axion Consulting, Recovinyl’s UK agents.

Growing demand from manufacturers for good quality recycled material is a key factor behind the recycling success. PVC can be recycled up to seven times without any loss of performance and can be reused in many diverse new products, from construction products such as windows, to flooring and electrical components – or even goalposts.

Having already established significant volumes of PVC recycling with Vinyl 2010, Recovinyl’s strategy continues with consolidating and increasing the steady supply of PVC waste being recycled in Europe by creating demand – a ‘pull-market’ for recycled PVC material - from the converting industry.

New recycling initiatives for PVC are taking off in the UK, such as the collection of single-use waste PVC medical devices via RecoMed and the collection of PVC gift cards. RecoMed is funded by VinylPlus and undertaken jointly by Axion Consulting and the British Plastics Federation. The take-back scheme is now operational in seven hospitals across the UK and since early 2014 has recycled more than 830 kg of PVC waste.

Jane adds: “RecoMed is growing and we’re expecting more hospitals to join the scheme in 2016. It is estimated that up to 2,250 tonnes of PVC could be recycled by collecting these items alone from 150 hospitals in the UK, enabling them to save money on their waste disposal costs and increase recycling rates.”

One of the objectives of the VinylPlus Voluntary Commitment is to recycle 800,000 tonnes of PVC waste per year by 2020, including 100,000 tonnes of difficult-to-recycle PVC through innovative recycling technologies.

Axion Consulting is part of the Axion Group that develops an

VinylPlus, the European PVC industry sustainable development programme, recycled 514,913 tonnes of PVC within its framework last year. The 2015 results were presented at its 4th Vinyl Sustainability Forum 2016 in Vienna, Austria where the industry shared its major successes, notably the replacement of lead-based stabilisers in the EU-28 market.

Taking the theme of ‘Smart Vinyl for our Cities’, the Forum held on April 28th attracted more than 130 stakeholders from academia, government bodies, the UN, the European Commission, specifiers, designers, architects and all sectors of the PVC industry.

Featuring top-level speakers from across Europe, presentations and panel discussions centred on the versatile role of PVC in meeting the future needs of people living and working in urban environments and how it can make a significant contribution to many aspects of the built environment.

Welcoming delegates, VinylPlus Chairman Josef Ertl said: “European cities are forerunners in the transition towards a low carbon and resource-efficient economy. 72% of the EU population lives in urban areas, using 70% of our energy.

“To assure quality of life, future cities will need healthy and energy-efficient buildings, reliable water distribution and sewage systems, as well as affordable healthcare. Using PVC in place of other materials reduces costs, improves product performance and makes a positive contribution to sustainable development.”

“With our NGO partner The Natural Step, we will revisit our Voluntary commitment and highlight the relevance and sustainability aspects of PVC products in 21st century cities,” added Josef Ertl.

Explaining the main outcomes of the Sustainable Development Goals (2015-2030) and the Paris Climate Summit (COP21), Stephan Sicars, Director Department of Environment, United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) said: “The shift of emphasis to designing products and processes for sustainability offers the plastics and PVC industry many opportunities to capitalise on innovation, as well as consumer demands for better environmental performance and smaller environmental footprint of products. These trends are said to allow USD 3 trillion in potential resource savings by 2030 amid an emerging USD 1 trillion global ‘green’ market.

“A circular economy is restorative and regenerative by design. The PVC production chain is making progress globally by reducing its environmental impact in areas such as chlor-alkaline production, energy and mercury use and VCM production. In addition, there are excellent developments in different regions and in Europe, especially.”




VinylPlus General Manager Brigitte Dero presented the 2015 results and highlighted lead-based stabiliser replacement as a ‘historic achievement’. This means, from 2016, products made from virgin PVC resin by European converters no longer contain lead.

She stated: “Our progress and achievements in 2015 demonstrate how the VinylPlus Voluntary

In one of their more unusual – and colourful - projects, Liverpool-based Total Glass supplied red and green replacement windows and entrance doors for a major social housing refurbishment project in the city’s Chinatown district.

The PVC-U window and door fabricator was engaged by Pine Court Housing Association as part of a £250,000 investment programme in properties at Pine Mews. The installation work, which included Chung Hok House sheltered accommodation scheme, was carried out by the HA’s Group partners Sovini Property Services.

Red and green are considered auspicious colours in Chinese culture, so a key aspect of the specification was to match the buildings’ existing colour scheme. Total Glass supplied ‘A’-rated energy-efficient PVC-U windows finished in Pine Green RAL 6000 to replace the original timber ones.

New final exit doors, which replaced old wooden ones at Chung Hok House, were also supplied in the same shade of green. The Total Glass Powerframe high-security aluminium communal entrance door in Traffic Red RAL 3020 was specified for the main entrance and fitted within a green doorset to match the windows.

Around the courtyard, a total of 14 flats and 13 houses were also similarly upgraded with red GRP composite doors and green outer-frames complementing the windows.

Total Glass liaised closely with Pine Court and One Vision Housing, also part of the Sovini Group, on the project, which used translators to inform tenants at all stages and facilitate their participation during the works.

“Pre-contract consultations with tenants and surveys were carried out, along with pilot installations to ensure that the colour specifications and designs were all correct,” explained Total Glass Commercial Contracts Manager Mark Formby.

“This was one of our client’s flagship schemes, so attention to detail throughout the project was vital. Completed on time and to budget, it was a success and the clients are delighted.”

David Brown, Pine Court’s Director of Operations, said: “We’re really pleased with the work that’s been undertaken. Disruption for customers has been kept to a minimum and the new installations look very professional.”

Formed in 1986, Pine Court Housing was originally established to provide quality homes and housing services for those in need, with a specific focus on the Chinese and South East Asian communities.

For more information, contact Total Glass on 0151 549 2339 or visit the website at www.totalglass.com.

VinylPlus has announced its programme with high-level speakers from across Europe who will be exploring the theme of ‘Smart Vinyl for our Cities’ at its fourth Vinyl Sustainability Forum in Vienna, Austria on April 28th 2016.

Organised by VinylPlus, the sustainable development programme of the European PVC industry, the 2016 Forum will examine the versatile role of PVC in meeting the future needs of those living and working in the world’s cities, home to an increasing majority of the global population and where the challenge to provide essential services will be the greatest.

The event will feature keynote speeches, presentations and discussions from representatives spanning a broad spectrum of stakeholders, from academia, government bodies, the UN, the European Commission, specifiers and all sectors of the PVC industry.

Key topics include ‘The Big Global Challenge - Sustainable Cities in the 21st Century’ and among the top-level speakers will be Martina Otto, Head of the Cities and Lifestyles Unit for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) who will outline the main elements of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2015-2030 and what these might mean for cities in the future.

Joining her will be Marie Yeroyanni, Senior Expert Innovating Cities with nature and culture at EU Commission DG Research and Innovation, on the EU cities and regional policy aims in 2015-2030. Marie will examine how the EU plans to achieve the SDGs in the urban context. Plus, Dr Matthias Hensel, Chairman of the BDI initiative, will be looking at Cities and Energy Efficient Buildings.

Presentations in the ‘Setting the Standards for Sustainable Cities’ session will involve Lena Johansson, Senior Adviser at The Natural Step (TNS), on key trends for shaping conurbations and Rob Bogaarts, Sustainability Director at Woonbedrijf, highlighting developments in the city of Eindhoven, The Netherlands.


Other leading commentators include Karl Martin Schellerer, Managing Director of Vinnolit GmbH, whose keynote speech on global vinyl markets will be followed by Brigitte Dero, VinylPlus General Manager, outlining current achievements through the Voluntary Commitment to sustainable development and future goals for PVC sustainability.

Four experts will be discussing PVC’s contribution to delivering sustainable cities through water supply and management, windows and flooring. They are respectively Durk Krol, Director of the Water Supply and Sanitation Technology Platform (WssTP); Steve Tan, former Executive Director of PVC4Pipes; Thomas Vondrak, Technical Director of Internorm and Anette Timmer, Director of Sustainability (EMEA) at Tarkett.

Innovative design and the role of vinyl in future cities will be explored by Stefania Lombardi and Roberto Cannobbio from Canobbio Textile Architecture srl, Italy, while Sara Banzatti and Irene Sartor from the Domus Academy, a design and architecture school in Italy, will showcase sustainable designs for water co

With order books filling up fast for its Axpoly® polypropylene (PP) grades throughout the coming months, Axion Polymers is forecasting a positive outlook this year.

Having developed a broad range of high-grade recycled engineering polymers, the Manchester-based recycler attributes its growing success to getting its product performance, commercial terms and customer service right for the highly competitive plastics marketplace.

Axion’s customer base spans a wide range of sectors, from construction, horticulture and retail goods to manufacturing and automotive. Axpoly®, derived from automotive and electrical end-of-life feedstocks, appeals to the increasing number of customers who have requirements to meet corporate sustainability goals.

Director Keith Freegard comments: “We have had a great start to the year and are selling to a broad range of reliable customers who value the environmental benefits and consistent quality of our recycled plastics. They also really like our ability to offer stable prices that are not linked to volatile oil pricing; that makes a lot of sense to a lot of customers.”

Axion Polymers’ technical capability in supplying tailored polymers to suit specific end-user requirements, such as modified melt flow, impact resistance and tensile strength, is an additional factor that is driving growth.

Keith states they are now looking to repeat this success with their new high-impact polystyrene grade, Axpoly® r-HIPS 1000. Suitable for a range of applications, including horticultural products, DIY goods, retail products and automotive components, all grades are tested to ISO standards, are RoHS-compliant and REACH-ready.

He explains: “Our focus is on further growing our customer base by developing a wider range of technical polymer resins and adding value by making novel plastic compounds that have physical properties that are usually difficult to achieve through standard methods – this ability to ‘be different’ is one of our core skills.”

Inviting enquiries regarding any potential application for the new HIPS or existing grades, Keith adds: “Many organisations today are under pressure to meet certain sustainability targets; particularly in the construction and civil engineering sectors where tender-winning contract offers must have a credible story in terms of the environmental benefits of the selected materials.

“Invariably, they are obliged to deliver products that have provable, traceable and solidly measured performance in terms of carbon impact and are also sustainably-sourced. Having the in-house expertise to demonstrate this is welcomed by our customers. Overall we are optimistic and confident about growth in 2016.”

Axion Polymers is part of the Axion Group that develops and operates innovative resource recovery and processing solutions for recycling waste materials. The Group works with a wide range of clients within the recycling and process industries on the practical development of new processin

Residents in two 15-storey high tower blocks at Sefton, Merseyside are benefiting from warmer homes thanks to the installation of new energy-efficient aluminium windows, supplied and installed by Total Glass.

Manufactured at Total’s Liverpool production facility using the Sapa 75 Si system, the fully reversible windows incorporate Sunguard SN70/37 solar-controlled glass to allow for maximum light transmission, while reducing solar gain and preventing excessive heat build-up.

Finished in a grey RAL 7021 polyester powder-coated finish, the 270 windows were installed in the side and front-facing elevations of Chapel House and Dean House, which are managed by social housing provider, One Vision Housing.

Stuart Holt, Total Glass Commercial Aluminium Manager commented: “Fully reversible windows were specified for ease of cleaning and maintenance. Given that both blocks are on an exposed site overlooking Bootle Docks, these new high performance windows will contribute to lower energy bills and better thermal efficiency for the occupants.”

For more information, contact Total Glass on 0151 549 2339 or visit the website at www.totalglass.com.

Contemporary new homes in Bootle, Liverpool benefit from ‘A’-rated PVC-U windows supplied and installed by Total Glass, the city’s social housing fenestration specialist.

The Total Glass team worked with main contractors United Living on the scheme that has delivered 20 new family homes for social housing provider Liverpool Mutual Homes. The 15 two-bed houses and five two-bed bungalows were completed in May 2015 on a site formerly occupied by a block of flats and a vacant hostel.

All the windows were manufactured using a Grey on White profile, with an RAL 7016 Anthracite Grey external foiled finish. The Secured by Design specification included restrictors in the ground floor ones and egress windows upstairs.

For more information, contact Total Glass on 0151 549 2339 or visit the website at www.totalglass.com.

Recofloor’s re-designed website offers significantly-improved functionality and new features, providing all the information that flooring companies need to recycle their waste vinyl flooring.

Easier to navigate and more user-friendly, the comprehensive site www.recofloor.org has direct links to the websites of Altro and Polyflor, founders of the UK’s national vinyl flooring recycling scheme.

Familiar features remain, such as the map showing all the 64 Recofloor drop-off sites across the UK and Ireland and a cost calculator to work out how much money you can save by using the Take Back scheme.

Key new additions include dedicated pages for contractors and distributors where they can access useful data such as online forms to request collections and bags, leaflets, case studies and an easy step-by-step guide on how to use the scheme. Information on waste carriers licences and waste exemptions has also been added. Look out too for the live Twitter feed.

Collectors can download leaflets and case studies, plus a training presentation for staff, from a new resource area. An Events page will keep members updated on future Bacon Butty events and trade shows attended by Recofloor, plus of course, the annual Recofloor Awards.
Members can enter the Recofloor Awards 2016 for free via the website. Taking a football theme, the Awards ceremony will be held on March 3 at Old Trafford, the Home of Manchester United. Deadline for entries is January 13 2016.


Latest announcements will be posted on the Home Page ‘slider’ section, highlighting topics such as upcoming events, seasonal collections or member news.

Commenting on their new website, Recofloor’s Project Officer Carla Eslava says: “We think it looks great and with so many additional features and content, it will serve as a terrific reference source for both existing Recofloor members and those interested in joining us.

“We welcome feedback from members on what they think of the site, if they can find what they’re looking for and indeed, if there’s anything else they would like on the site.”

Smooth and safety off-cuts and smooth uplifted flooring are collected by Recofloor for recycling back into new products, including flooring. Participants in the scheme benefit from enhanced green credentials for their businesses and up to 75% savings in disposal costs. More than 2,650 tonnes of vinyl flooring has been collected since the scheme’s 2009 inception.

Further information about Recofloor is available from www.recofloor.org. Contact 0161 355 7618 or email info@recofloor.org.

The 481,000 tonnes of waste PVC recycled across Europe in 2014 contributed to the creation of around 1,000 direct jobs in recycling plants, according to VinylPlus, the sustainable development programme of the European PVC industry.

As well as creating employment opportunities, PVC recycling is also saving around one million tonnes of carbon emissions annually.

The figures are calculated on an average of one employee needed to recycle 500 tonnes of PVC per year and a 2kg saving of CO2 for each kilogramme of PVC that is recycled. Energy demand for recycling PVC is typically around 90% lower than virgin PVC production.

Waste PVC materials, such as rigid PVC films, pipes and fittings, window profiles and related products, as well as flexible PVC (cables, membranes and flooring) were recycled through the European-wide network of 155 Recovinyl-accredited recyclers. A total of 11.8 million window frames are recycled per year.

Speaking at the recent Brussels Sustainable Development Summit in October, Arjen Sevenster highlighted how Voluntary Commitments, such as VinylPlus, which put together the entire European PVC value chain, can address sustainability challenges in a systemic and holistic way, helping to move an industry sector towards a low-carbon circular economy.

“We are addressing sustainability as a whole through a range of actions including waste management, sustainable use of additives and reducing energy consumption,” explained Arjen, Technical and Environmental Affairs Manager for the European Council of Vinyl Manufacturers (ECVM).

“For example, from 2007 to 2013 there was a 10.2% decrease in energy consumption to produce one tonne of PVC. Resin producers are targeting a 20% reduction of energy consumption by 2020.”

The VinylPlus programme comprises 30 measurable and concrete targets organised around five challenges. It is based on The Natural Step System Conditions for a Sustainable Society; an internationally-recognised method for sustainability planning that integrates the science of sustainability with business decision-making.

In concluding that Voluntary Commitments such as VinylPlus can represent an effective model to address sustainability challenges, Arjen added: “Cooperation along the entire value chain is a key element for success. Concrete and measurable targets and deadlines are also vital, along with stakeholder engagement, transparency and dialogue, plus the required research and development.

“The potential of recycling should not be underestimated. With regard to the depletion of the non-renewable raw materials, recycling achieves the same objective as moving to renewables.”

VinylPlus is the renewed ten-year Voluntary Commitment of the European PVC industry. The programme establishes a long-term framework for the sustainable development of the PVC industry by tackling a number of challenges in the EU-28, Norway and Switzerland. Its target is to recycle 800,000 tonnes of PVC per year by 2020.