Tarkett is one of the first companies to join the "Circular Economy 100" program launched on February 8th, 2013, by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. This program aims at creating a network of one hundred companies whose ambition is to promote the development of the circular economy, a model for economic growth based on circular re-use of materials and preservation of the world's resources.
“As part of its sustainability strategy, Tarkett has already been engaged with eco-innovation for several years. Our objective is to develop products that could be re-used at the end of their usage life, in our own production cycle, or by other industries. We also benefit from our pioneering experience in recycling, which started in 1957. Our involvement in this program will allow us to exchange best practices and continue our development towards a sustainable and responsible economic model,” explained Michel Giannuzzi, Chief Executive Officer of the Tarkett Group.
In 2011, Tarkett adopted the cradle-to-cradle approach, which promotes, in particular, eco-design with materials that better protect health and the environment. Thanks to tremendous work done on product formulation and manufacturing process improvement, Tarkett has already achieved significant results at each step of the product life:
Eco-conception
• Two product ranges sold in the U.S. – linoleum and rubber - have been awarded with cradle-to-cradle certifications. The most recent to earn the certification being the Johnsonite rubber products.
• Most vinyl products are made from a significant proportion of recycled materials and are all 100% recyclable.
• Many commercial homogeneous and Luxury Vinyle Tiles products are NSF-332 certified (Gold and Platinum levels) and Tarkett’s linoleum recently received Platinum NSF-332.
Production
• Water consumption was reduced by 24% between 2010 and 2012, thanks in particular to closed-loop water circuits set up in half of the production sites.
• Energy consumption was reduced by 5% between 2010 and 2012 thanks to industrial improvements, including the implementation at some plants of energy production systems using biomass. For example, three quarters of our wood plants use sawdust to produce their electricity.
• The volume of waste sent to landfill was reduced by almost 20% between 2010 and 2012.
Usage
• Most Tarkett U.S. commercial products are FloorScore certified. And most Tarkett products have Total Volatile Organic Compounds emission levels ≤100μg/m3 and several products are twenty times lower than the lowest levels published by American IAQ standards (≤10μg/m3), thereby helping to improve indoor air quality.
Recycling
• Collection and recycling circuits of post-installation and postconsumerproducts have been set up in France and Sweden (ReUse programme), and in the United States (ReStart and Infinity Initiatives).
