Getting stuck into recycling

Recofloor partnership, with facilities at wholesalers allowing many containers used for F. Ball products to be disposed of for recycling, proves an early hit.

A scheme pioneered by F. Ball and vinyl take-back scheme Recofloor, allowing containers used for many of F. Ball’s products to be easily disposed of for recycling, is proving an early hit with flooring contractors, with bin-loads of empty containers already taken for reprocessing.

Currently in the trial stages, the new initiative is providing recycling points at 10 distributors across the UK, where contractors can effortlesslydispose of their empty recyclable plastic containers for free – a first for the flooring industry. This includes F. Ball’s recently introduced recyclable alternatives to its 5 litre bottles used for gauging liquids, primers and tackifiers, as well as its 5 and 15 litre yellow buckets.

Following several distributor launches this month, trials are now underway at the following locations:

  • 3D Flooring Supplies, Cardiff
  • Birch Distribution, Sheffield
  • Birch Distribution, Hull
  • MCD, Kidderminster
  • Safety Flooring Supplies, Langley
  • 3D Flooring Supplies, Taunton
  • 3D Flooring Supplies, Bristol
  • Volante Ltd., Kingston upon Thames

Contractors who brought along empty F. Ball buckets/bottles on launch days were rewarded for their support with a £5 Greggs voucher.

Commenting on the scheme, F. Ball Managing Director Mark Hughes said: “The response to the pilot has been very encouraging so far. Subject to the success of further trials, we will be considering rolling the scheme out nationally, so I encourage customers of participating distributors to continue to take advantage of the service.”

Recofloor, which was founded by floorcovering manufacturers Altro and Polyflor in 2009, provides designated points at select flooring suppliers where contractors can dispose of old and unused vinyl floorcoverings for recycling. Vinyl offcuts are then turned into new vinyl floorcoverings, while smooth uplifted vinyl flooring is reprocessed into traffic management products, such as cones and sign bases.

The partnership with Recofloor is part of F. Ball’s ongoing efforts to reducethe amount of plastic waste generated by the flooring industry, which has recently included introducing a new-size 20 litre recyclable bottle for its reformulated Styccobond F41 carpet tile tackifier.

Lee Floorstok in Liverpool and Cheshires in Lincoln are the remaining distributors who will be joining the trial in April.

Further details of the trial can be found on the F. Ball website: www.f-ball.co.uk