Cutting waste ... and costs for our clients

A HULL-BASED industrial flooring company says it is saving clients money by going green.

Hull Flooring Ltd, which specialises in carpets and vinyl floors, has signed up for a new recycling scheme, which will halve its "wastage" costs.

The company, based in Lee Smith Street, east Hull, expects to divert 12 tons of vinyl flooring for recycling by the end of the month.

In January, the company joined the Recofloor Vinyl Take-Back Scheme, which is overseen by recycling experts Axion Group.

Axion turns the vinyl waste into new polymer plastics, which are then either sold back to flooring manufacturers or made into traffic cones and other road furniture.

Sean Dawson, managing director of Hull Flooring Ltd, said: "Most of our products are PVC, nothing that will biodegrade at all.

"Until about two years ago, landfill was the only option.

"But certain companies within this industry came together with the Government body Wrap (Waste & Resources Action Programme) in 2007 and started a trial period of recycling.

"Flooring manufacturers Altro and Polyfloor are now funding the scheme."

Hull Flooring is now taking the green scheme directly to their clients, including Halfords, which has already signed up.

The company ran a trial of the system when re-flooring a Halfords store two weeks ago.

Plans are now in place to continue using the scheme during the refurbishment for three more Halfords shops.

Mr Dawson said: "They're very keen on it.

"It is a great scheme because it reduces costs for them and the big thing is it really reduces the amount of waste, so it is much better for the environment."

Hull Flooring has also presented the system to other regular clients, such as British Home Stores (BHS), which is keen on the project.

Mr Dawson said: "We saw a big added economic value to what we can offer our clients from recycling and we took this responsibility on board."

Mr Dawson said the recycling scheme was promoted by the Contract Floor Association.

He said: "We're one of the largest companies in the country that are using this system and we are taking it directly to our clients."

Rather than dumping all the waste in a skip, the vinyl is stored in 250kg bags until it is collected by Axion.

It costs £5 per bulk bag and a minimum of two bags is needed for a collection.

The waste is taken to one of 20 sites across the UK for recycling.

Mr Dawson said: "Obviously, there can be practical difficulties. When you are using skips all your waste is contained, but in this system it all has to be bagged up and stored until it can be picked up, so it isn't always possible straight away.

"It needs to be practical for the client."

Links

Hull Flooring Ltd

www.hullflooring.co.uk

Axion Consulting

www.axionconsulting.com