Altro Develops Recycling System for Safety Floor

Hertfordshire, England, July 31, 2008--Altro has set its sights on creating a closed loop recycling system for safety flooring after introducing the first in-house recycling system for the material.

Altro claims that it is the first safety flooring manufacturer to recycle safety flooring in-house

Taking place at its manufacturing plant in Letchworth Garden City, the process has addressed the perceived difficulties with recycling safety flooring, which revolve around the abrasive nature of the aggregates used to make the flooring non-slip and durable.

Commenting on the company's success, its chief executive, Richard Kahn, said: "Through this innovative process, we believe we have taken the first steps towards truly sustainable safety flooring. We already use reclaimed glass in our products, and now we have introduced the recycled aggregate, with a range of products featuring recycled PVC content expected by the end of the year,"

The new system breaks down processed waste flooring and separates it into its various component parts, recycling these back into safety flooring.

To achieve this, waste flooring is passed through a shredder and then through a number of screening tables which recover the aggregate and fibrous material.

The PVC is then granulated into 2mm granules, which are incorporated into new safety flooring during the manufacturing process alongside the waste aggregate.

Following the introduction of the new process, Altro, is now working with the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and Stockport-based polymer and PVC recycling company Axion Recycling to examine the potential to collect post installation waste from sites for recycling into safety flooring.