SITA will collect the carpet tiles from InterfaceFLOR’s customers across Europe and return them to the manufacturer, either to be reused by the company’s social partners or recycled into new tiles using a pioneering closed loop system. The partnership will initially operate in The Netherlands, before being expanded to cover more of the EMEAI region.

Under InterfaceFLOR’s Mission Zero goal, the company is aiming to eliminate any negative impact it has on the environment by 2020. As part of this, the company offers a take-back scheme for its products called ReEntry, which has diverted more than 100,000 tonnes of used carpet from landfill.

The ReEntry scheme comprises three options for used carpet tiles – reuse, recycling through a closed loop technology process called ReEntry 2.0, or energy recovery. ReEntry 2.0 separates out the main components of a tile and transforms them into raw materials for new products. For tiles that can’t be recycled, SITA will recover energy from them.

Speaking exclusively to edieWaste, InterfaceFLOR’s European sustainability director Ramon Arratia said: “We partnered with SITA as they are one of the biggest waste management firms in Europe and have the logistical networks in place to do this. They also have expertise in takeback operations and cross-border waste administration.”

He added that the partnership scheme would initially focus on the Netherlands before being extended to Germany, France, Scandinavia and the UK.

Since the mid-1990s, InterfaceFLOR has reduced the amount of manufacturing waste sent to landfill by 82% and saved more than $438m in avoided waste costs. Currently over 40% of total raw materials for its products are recycled or bio-based.

A more in-depth interview with InterfaceFLOR’s Ramon Arratia will appear on edieWaste shortly. Meanwhile the company’s senior vice president, Nigel Stansfield, will be speaking about Mission Zero at the Sustainability Leaders Forum on November 3 – to book your place go here

Maxine Perella

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