Climate and circular economy

What does the circular economy mean to me?

You care about the planet, you’re concerned about climate change and you don’t like to see food wasted or clothes thrown into landfill. So how could a circular economy fix these things? And what would that mean to you?
A circular economy is a way out of the Take – Make – Waste system. . It starts with designing out waste to create products with good materials that last longer and can be used again and again. This saves natural resources and reduces carbon emissions.
By choosing a Tarkett flooring, you know you’re getting a high quality product with good materials – including recycled materials. It’s designed to last and can be safely recycled when your flooring reaches the end of its life. So you get peace of mind that you’re doing your bit to protect the planet too.

Did you know that designing things better could prevent waste?

You’re doing a great job of recycling your plastics, cardboard, cans and glass at home. But have you ever wondered why we can’t just recycle everything? The fact is that recycling isn’t as simple as we may think. Depending on the individual materials and different combinations of materials in a product, it can be a tough challenge. That’s why designing things better - using good materials - could really make a difference.
At Tarkett, we start by eco-designing our products and optimising our materials, using the world-renowned Cradle to Cradle® design principles - a way of designing products that promotes good material choices. This gives us the best chance of offering you healthier products and being able to extract and use these materials again once the product reaches the end of its useful life. Many of our business and residential products have been awarded Cradle to Cradle® certifications from Silver to Gold.

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And how do we go about recycling our products?

Through our ReStart^® take-back and recycling programme* we collect and recycle installation waste and post-consumer flooring. We’re the only manufacturer in Europe with a dedicated carpet recycling factory capable of closing the loop on carpet tiles, and we’re pioneering post-consumer recycling for many flooring categories, creating high quality materials for new products.
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Turning precious resources into new products

It’s not just about recycling our own flooring waste. We’re constantly on the lookout for opportunities to switch traditional materials (taken from the Earth) for high quality recycled alternatives.
We’re collaborating to transform some surprising ‘waste’ materials from other industries into useful materials for our products – from chalk residues left over from treating drinking water to PVB (plastic) film from old car windscreens to nylon from discarded fishing nets. Because when it comes to waste, every scrap saved and reused makes a difference. It not only conserves the world’s natural resources, but helps to tackle climate change by cutting out the energy and water needed to extract and process virgin materials.

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How can my choices make an impact?

We’re all concerned about climate change. But what will it mean for us? A world of rapidly rising temperatures, up to 4°C by 2100, is very likely to lead to more frequent natural disasters.
At Tarkett, we’re tackling this by designing our products in line with circular economy principles. This enables us to reduce the carbon footprint of our products at every stage of their life cycle, from raw material sourcing to recycling.

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Making our products in sustainable factories reduces our carbon footprint too. Currently, 38% of our energy consumption comes from renewable sources, like solar or wind. In 12 of our factories, we use 100% renewable electricity, and we’re constantly innovating to reduce our energy use and improve energy efficiency. We know you want more than just a great looking-floor. You want flooring that meets your environmental aspirations, so you can do your bit to prevent climate change and global warming.
 

Making conscious choices. For people and planet.
Tarkett Human-Conscious Design^®

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