Altro, Polyflor Launch UK Vinyl Recycling Program

London, England, Sept. 1, 2009--Flooring manufacturers Altro and Polyflor are launching the UK’s first vinyl flooring recycling take-back program in September.

Managed by Axion Consulting, Recofloor will recycle safety flooring offcuts and smooth vinyl offcuts into new flooring. Uplifted or end-of-life material will be used in the manufacture of highways products such as traffic cones and road barrier bases.

The project has developed through a trial funded by the Waste and Resources Action Programme to increase collection and recycling of vinyl flooring.

Recofloor project manager Jane Gardner of Axion Consulting said: “Increasingly customers are keen to see their end-of-life flooring recycled. Recofloor participants benefit from compliance with Site Waste Management legislation and receive a ‘certificate of commitment’ to recycling. Providing their ‘green’ credentials can help them gain new contracts.”

Participants in the program who register with Recofloor will receive bulk bags which can be collected from site once they are filled. Alternatively, the flooring waste can be dropped off at one of the 19 designated sites across the UK.

Altro chief executive Richard Kahn said: “Thanks to the installation of the world’s first in-house safety flooring recycling system, Altro has not sent any waste PVC to landfill since mid-2007 and now we recycle 100 percent of our factory waste PVC.”

Recofloor hopes to increase the number of drop-off sites available and recruit distributors to provide a drop-off point for vinyl flooring waste.