HOUSTON – Tarkett recently announced that it has increased the recycled content in its commercial tile products and has adopted a new set of initiatives to ensure its products and manufacturing practices continue to become more sustainable.
After evaluating opportunities for the implementation of a Cradle to Cradle process and creating the ReUse Reclamation Program, Tarkett has adopted a new environmental initiative called Balanced Choice. The new initiative evaluates the product’s quality, reliability and product life benefits by focusing on resource stewardship, using better raw materials, contributing to people-friendly spaces and recycling.
“We continue to look at the economic, industrial and social frameworks that surround our products,” says Diane Martel, vice president marketing for Tarkett Commercial. “While we constantly examine the methodologies and tools that allow us to reclaim and produce flooring, we are striving to find innovative ways to reuse those materials and produce the high performance and lasting products we are known for.“
In the last two years all Tarkett Commercial tiles have contained pre-consumer recycled content, and the company most recently increased the recycled content in key products. For example, Azrock’s Advance CortinaStone now contains up to 25 percent pre-consumer recycled content. Azrock Asset VCT now contains at least 1 percent or more post-consumer recycled content. Tarkett reclaims, crushes and reuses its tiles for its post-consumer content versus foreign material. It intentionally uses its recycled flooring as the ingredients of its recycled content to ensure the products’ integrity and durability is the highest quality.
All of Tarkett Commercial tiles are made in the United States. Whenever possible, Tarkett sources raw materials such as limestone close to its manufacturing plants to conserve transportation fuel and reduce gas emissions. Tarkett has conducted research for an alternative to disposing waste to landfill and found a company (HPP) that supplies roadbed material for the Texas Department of Transportation. After sufficient testing, Tarkett’s production material was certified for use in construction projects such as road bases, backfills, and embankments. Since then, 100 percent of all production waste has been converted from being landfill waste to reused material. Approximately 1 million pounds of material was sent to the program in 2008.
Tarkett’s ReUse Reclamation Program reclaims samples, flooring and installation waste. The Architectural Sample Return Program repurposes unused and outdated samples from specifiers. The company’s Contractor Return Program reclaims clean installation flooring waste, which is incorporated into its new products. Azrock also has a post-consumer tile recycling program which can effectively recycle its resilient flooring tiles. For example, Ziegler-Cooper Architects returned 1,152 pounds of commercial tile during a renovation project enabling Tarkett recycle it into future flooring. Together, Ziegler-Cooper Architects and Tarkett reclaimed, recycled and reused commercial tile and saved it from landfill.
“One of our top priorities is creating sustainable flooring,” adds Martel. “We are expanding that effort through our ReUse Reclamation Program and by following our Balanced Choice initiative.”
For more information about Tarkett Commercial tile and its ReUse Reclamation Program, visit www.azrock.com.
About Tarkett
The worldwide headquarters of Tarkett, located in Paris, France, was founded more than 130 years ago and is now the largest resilient manufacturer in the world with more than 28 production centers, sales in more than 100 countries and more than 7,000 employees. Its comprehensive product lines are recognized throughout the industry for innovation, excellent design and high quality. The corporation’s core businesses in North America will continue to be segmented into two divisions, commercial and residential. The core products are resilient flooring, including linoleum, rubber, vinyl and vinyl fiber-backed flooring, laminate flooring products and specialty flooring such as accessories, stairwell management, and egress routing systems. In North America the products are marketed under the brand names Tarkett, Domco, Azrock® by Tarkett, Nafco® by Tarkett, Expressions™ by Tarkett, and Johnsonite®. For more information, visit www.tarkett.com.
