Second life

A collection and recycling solution at each life cycle stage

The primary challenge is to recover material for recycling at each stage of the product life cycle, from production and installation to end-of-life. Gerflor provides a collection and recycling solution for each source.

Gerflor has set up 2 distinct systems to meet recovery challenges:

• The Second Life programme, for recovery of laying offcuts and “clean” end-of-life products, such as glue-free REACH compliant items.
• The other flooring products (glued, mixed with other materials or with raw materials concerned by any REACH restriction) have a collection and recycling route of their very own.

SECOND LIFE PROGRAMME

Gerflor has been recycling its production waste in its factories for the past 50 years. From 2011, Gerflor set up the Second Life programme in France, a free programme to collect laying offcuts and “clean” end-of-life products, notably glue-free REACH compliant items. This customisable programme is adaptable to suit the size and constraints of the installation company. It also enables collection of competitors’ PVC products. 4 years ago, Gerflor linked up with recycling leader PAPREC to create a plant in France called Floor to Floor to recover laying offcuts and “clean” end-of-life products. Recycled materials generated by Floor to Floor are sent directly to Gerflor production sites, where they are incorporated into new products. Floor to Floor’s target is to recycle 55,000 t/year from 2025.

 To go further in recycling PVC floors

Gerflor is an active member of ERFMI, the European Institute of Resilient Flooring Manufacturers. ERFMI has launched several research projects to develop solutions for recycling bonded floors that do not comply with REACH:

• CIRCULAR FLOORING : Supported by the European Union, the CIRCULAR FLOORING project aims to develop on an industrial scale recycling technology by dissolving soils in order to recover PVC resin.

• OREADE : This incinerator project is expected to recover salt from end-of-life soils.

Gerflor is an active contributor to Vinyl Plus, the programme that brings together the European PVC industry's voluntary commitments to sustainable development.

RecoVynil: This network connects recyclers and PVC manufacturers in Europe. Its objective is to develop and certify the recycling of 90,000 tonnes of PVC by 2025.