Recofloor to honour its flooring recycling champions in March

Founded in 2009 by leading flooring manufacturers Altro and Polyflor, Recofloor is the UK’s award-winning national vinyl flooring recycling scheme that works with the entire supply chain to divert vinyl flooring waste from landfill.

Competition for the awards is intense, but recipients recognise the benefits as previous Gold Award winner Sean Dawson, Hull Flooring’s Managing Director can testify: “Demonstrating our commitment to Green issues certainly acts as a ‘selling tool’ for our business. As margins get tighter, this helps to differentiate our business and attract new customers through being able to offer that little bit extra.”

Material collected by Recofloor’s 510-plus membership is recycled back into products, such as new flooring, which benefits the environment and significantly reduces collectors’ waste disposal costs.

Nominees are being selected for fiercely-contested prizes in eight categories, plus Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards, which reward members’ commitment, contribution and achievements in 2013.

The categories are: Construction Project of the Year; Contractor of the Year; Distributor of the Year; Drop-off Site Member of the Year; Greatest Improver; Best Newcomer; Recofloor Champion and Outstanding Achievement.

“The Recofloor Awards is a much-anticipated event by our members, offering excellent networking opportunities to share expert knowledge and learn more about how the scheme can work for your business,” says Carla Eslava, Recofloor’s Project Officer.

“We’re very much looking forward to welcoming both existing and potential new members to our event, so please be sure to ‘save the date’. In addition, 2014 looks set to be another busy year for Recofloor as we look forward to celebrating our fifth anniversary in September and continuing to build on our success throughout the year,” added Carla.

Recofloor’s achievements are testament to the consistent efforts across the entire flooring supply chain; from manufacturers and distributors to contractors and fitters, which is having a significant impact on sustainability within the building industry.

Since its 2009 inception, Recofloor has collected 1,644 tonnes of smooth offcuts, smooth uplifted vinyl and safety offcuts for recycling back into products, such as new flooring – enough to cover 76 football pitches.

Recycling waste vinyl flooring through the Recofloor scheme has produced 1,315,200 kilogrammes of carbon savings – equivalent to driving 156 times around the equator or taking 324 cars off the road for a year.

Distributors, with a total of 68 drop-off sites at their premises across the UK, have enthusiastically embraced the scheme and continue to help drive it forward. Volumes of material collected via distributors represented 41% of the total in 2013, compared to 24% in 2012.

This service is greatly valued by local contractors who can deposit waste vinyl at flooring distributors’ drop-off sites, reducing site collections and greatly reducing the scheme’s carbon impact.

Members can register for the event, which is free of charge and includes lunch and refreshments.