Mannington To Recycle Graphics from Olympics

Calhoun, GA, Feb. 18, 2010--3M Canada Company and Mannington Commercial are have formed a joint project to reclaim large format graphics used in the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games and recycle them into flooring.

3M Canada looked for ways to reclaim wraps as a material stream for recycled products. About 200,000 square feet of the graphics seen during the games on vehicles and key venues such as the Richmond Olympic Oval and the Pacific Coliseum are in include.

After the games, all of this material will be diverted from landfill and remanufactured into Mannington commercial flooring.

"We learned about Mannington's precedent for recycling mixed waste similar to our graphic materials into flooring," says 3M vice president Richard Chartrand.
"Most recycling facilities would quickly turn away from the colorful, irregular shaped lumps that the graphics result in after use, but Mannington was up for the challenge."

Mannington will recycle the graphics into Premium Tile, a product in commercial healthcare, education and retail applications. The Premium Tile product already contains post-consumer waste streams,including drywall and VCT reclaimed from renovation sites, and is certified as an Environmentally Preferable
Product.