EPFLOOR - European PVC Flooring Manufacturers Group

France : In France, the pilot collection test of SFEC was completed. 50 T have been collected in 2004 and 117 T in 2005. Recycling was undertaken by the EFPLOOR Logistics Center. SFEC shall mainly concentrate on the following collection channels:

demolition/deconstruction
installation (big installers and big projects)

Cooperation with private waste collection platforms and municipalities had given less positive results. Activities will however continue in 2006. The target is to at least double recycling from waste originating in France by end 2006. One of the key priorities of 2006 is to develop recycling capacity in France, therefore decreasing the logistical burden. As an interim solution the EPFLOOR Logistics Centre shall coordinate recycling. Need to analyze the pilot test result and formulate a new strategy means that most of the activities of the implementation phase shall be concentrated in the second semester of 2006.

In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the EPFLOOR Logistics Centre, coordinates collection. This is by far the major source for post-consumer PVC flooring collection. The change in the landfill acceptance conditions in Germany has greatly helped the boost of collection of the Logistics Centre. Indeed as off June 2005, untreated waste could not be landfilled anymore. The following surge in incineration prices made it more interesting for waste companies to sort out more efficiently their waste streams. The EPFLOOR Logistics Centre is operated on behalf of EPFLOOR by AgPR. They not only maintain contact with waste collectors and expand the collection within the region, but also own a cryogenic recycling unit in Troisdorf. AgPR was set-up by several flooring manufacturers in the 1990ies. Main sources of waste (in order of importance) :

Demolition companies
Private waste disposal companies
Sorting facilities and/or container rental
Municipal container parks municipalities

United Kingdom : Pilot collection tests have been initiated in 2005 and shall continue in the course of 2006. Like in other countries one of the main challenge is to develop appropriate recycling capacities able to treat the flooring mix of the UK. R&D tests are actually under ways in order to develop this technical capability.

Scandinavia : In Sweden and Finland, there is a successful collection scheme for installation waste. Following the stop of activities of RGS90/Stignaes in the end of 2005 and the uncertainties in the year before, the extension of the Swedish collection scheme to more complicated kinds of post-consumer PVC flooring waste was postponed until an adequate recycling solution was found. Pilot tests with a local mechanical recycler are ongoing.

Any flooring installer can contact EPFLOOR for the recycling of its PVC flooring waste. The EPFLOOR Logistics Centre operated by AgPR shall then dispatch the flooring to the most appropriate recycling/recovery outlet.