Sustainable Flooring: Heading Towards a Greener Future!
There is no hiding the fact that environmental concerns are rising every year and the demand for sustainable practices and products across all industries has never been higher. At Remland we recognise the importance of being sustainable and have made it our mission to make positive changes in our everyday practice. In this blog post, we look at the eco-friendly flooring and accessories that we offer, highlight leading manufacturers who are creating sustainable products and practices, and what we are doing here to help.
What are we doing?
At Remland we understand the importance of being sustainable and having as little impact on the environment as possible. Here are some of the steps we have taken to create a more sustainable work environment:
Reusing packaging
Where possible we give packaging a second life. We receive lots of deliveries every day and we reuse any boxes, plastic wrapping and package filler that we can. This helps minimise waste and reduces the need to buy new resources.
Recycling in our office
We have a dedicated recycling bin in the office making it easy for our employees to dispose of their plastics, paper and cardboard responsibly. We also dedicate time to collecting and recycling flexible plastics like crisp packets and food wrappers.
Taking part in Tarkett's ReStart programme
We work closely with Tarkett with their recycling programme ReStart. When we have any Tarkett flooring that we no longer need or cannot be used we pop it in a big recycling bag, and when this is full Tarkett come and collects this from us and takes it back to their factories, ready to give the old flooring a new life!
Sample packaging
We send out 100's of samples per day which equates to a lot of packaging. We use cardboard boxes that can be recycled or reused at home and padded paper envelopes which are FSC certified and can also be recycled once the padding has been removed.
What are manufacturers doing?
Here are two manufacturers that are making enormous steps into taking action and prioritising sustainability and integrating it onto their daily operations:
Tarkett is one of our most popular manufacturers online and is arguably the leader in achieving sustainability goals, with a strong commitment to circular and eco-friendly practices. They have three focus areas...
Circular economy
To help tackle climate change and close the loop on waste, Tarkett do not just focus on themselves, they assess every link in the cycle and their supply chain to ensure they are doing everything they can to limit waste and reduce their impact on the environment. Tarkett also have a recycling programme called ReStart as mentioned above, to reuse and repurpose their products.
Using good materials
Tarkett are transparent on where their resources come from and how they put their sustainability schemes into practice. They are also accredited by third party scientific institutions and government bodies to measure the progress and steps they are taking.
Health and wellbeing
Tarkett are also working hard to improve and create healthier indoor and living spaces through their products. They are achieving this with their unique dust capture system in carpets and use of phthalate-free plasticizers and minimal VOC emissions in their vinyl flooring.
You can read more about this at: https://home.tarkett.co.uk/en_GB/node/committed-to-sustainability-9
Some of our best selling Tarkett products can be found here: https://www.remlandcarpets.co.uk/vinyl-flooring/tarkett
Forbo Flooring believe is it action that is important and makes a difference, not just their promises. They want their customers to trust in their brand and their sustainability efforts. They achieve this through providing full transparency when it comes to their circular flooring approach and using renewable raw materials. Here is a breakdown and summary of some of their key initiatives:
- Circular Economy - Forbo creates a circular economy by reducing their material use, optimising their resources to reduce wastage, increasing the use of recycled material and developing their take-back and end-of-life recycling programme.
- Carbon Reduction - From 2004 to 2021 they achieved a 70% decrease in CO2 emissions and continue to improve this reduction. Forbo also focuses on using 100% renewable electricity where possible.
- Zero Waste - Forbo is working towards becoming a zero-waste company by achieving ≥ 95% reuse/recycling of product waste and 100% reuse/recycling of office waste.
- Sustainable Sourcing - Forbo aim to use 100% harmless and traceable raw materials, increase bio-based product sales and ensure products are toxin and phthalate free.
- Renewable and Transparency - Forbo continue to increase the bio-based content in their products and secure third-party verified Environmental Product Declarations (EPD's) to lead the industry toward new environmental standards.
- Recycling Scheme - Forbo's recycling scheme ‘Back to the Floor’ contributes to and encourages the reuse and recycling of products in many markets.
- Ethical Supply Chain - Forbo encourages suppliers in the supply chain to adopt sustainable programmes and practices
A product Forbo are very well known for is their Marmoleum flooring. It is made up of 97% natural materials including flaxseed oil, wood flour, jute, limestone and pigments. Here are some sustainability features of Marmoleum:
- Natural composition
- Climate positive
- Uses renewable resources
- No harmful additives
- Bacteriostatic properties
- Can be recycled
- Certified against high standards of social accountability
You can view Forbo's Marmoleum flooring here - https://www.remlandcarpets.co.uk/marmoleum-flooring
