Carpet tile reuse & recycling contractor research

Transcription

1 Carpet tile reuse & recycling contractor research Nick Ranson August 2013

2 List of Figures Figure 1 Carpet recyclers and reuse organisations across the UK... 3 Figure 2 Who removes and disposes of the old carpet tiles?... 4 Figure 3 How do you dispose of carpet tiles?... 5 Figure 4 What influences how a contractor will dispose of carpet tiles?... 5 Figure 5 What do you see as the main barriers to reuse and recycling?... 6 Figure 6 Would customers think of your company more favourably if you were offering a sustainable alternative to landfill with no additional costs?... 6 Glossary FM Facilities management Acknowledgements Carpet Recycling UK would like to thank all flooring contractors and facilities management companies that provided information for this report. 2

3 Background Approximately 14.6 million square metres of carpet tiles are uplifted in the UK each year. This is equivalent to about 64,000 tonnes. It was estimated that in 2012 less than 1.5% of the uplifted tiles were reused or recycled, with some additional volume going to energy recovery. The majority ends up in landfill. There is a very low level of reuse & recycling compared to other waste streams. Carpet Recycling UK has undertaken this piece of work to examine the practices that exist within the industry and identify the perceived barriers to carpet tile reuse & recycling. Results of the survey Carpet Recycling UK has concentrated on flooring contractors, with some limited contact with facilities management companies. Contacting facilities managers proved difficult, only one out of 18 responded. However, the response from contractors was good. 68 contractors were contacted, using on-line surveys and telephone interviews. Of these, 23 companies responded, i.e. about 34%. This is a good level of response for a survey of this type. As shown in Figure 1, the companies interviewed covered a wide range in terms of square metres of carpet tiles supplied and fitted. A full list of respondents can be found in Appendix B List of Respondents 4% 100,000 m2 30% 50, ,00 m2 31% 22% 10,000-50,000 m2 1,000-10,000m2 Not specified Figure 1 m2 of carpet tiles uplifted by companies interviewed 3

4 Who removes and disposes of old carpet tiles? There is no "industry standard" practice. Although flooring contractors are responsible for a large proportion, perhaps around 50%, of tile removal, customers carry out a significant part of this work themselves. One contractor commented "I think the whole initiative is focused on the wrong group of businesses in respect of the disposal of tiles...it is the builders and demolition contractors that need to be approached as they are singularly responsible for more carpet sent to landfill than any other party" Another commented "it is building contractors we need to go after as they are the ones that remove the tiles". In some cases the work is contracted out to waste disposal or other companies. The subsequent questions about disposal methods and barriers to recycling have only covered the tiles removed by the flooring contractors. 9% Sometimes us, sometimes customer 30% 48% I/my company The customer does before we arrive Work mainly on new builds, so no uplift required Figure 2 Who removes and disposes of the old carpet tiles? How do you dispose of carpet tiles? Uplifted tiles are seen as a disposal problem and flooring contractors use the range of readily-available disposal methods which result in the majority of tiles going to landfill. Since the study has focused on flooring contractors, this information may cover only around 50% of uplifted tiles. However it is encouraging to note that, despite the 44% of tiles put into site skips and the put into skips off-site, about 34% are re-used or recycled. The "Other" category includes companies who contract out disposal or those who only fit new tiles after another company has removed the old ones. It will need further work to identify the practices of the other companies involved in tile removal. 4

5 9% 4% 4% 9% 44% Put in contractors site skip Back to base for collection by recycler Back to base and put in mixed waste skip Reused internally or given to local charities Collected by a reuse company 17% Collected by tile supplier Other Figure 3 How do you dispose of carpet tiles What influences how a contractor will dispose of carpet tiles? Since tiles are seen as a disposal problem rather than a recycling opportunity, it is not surprising that cost and convenience are major factors in the choice of disposal outlet. That said, a number of contractors did recognise that reuse or recycling would be a more responsible choice but were not aware of any viable reuse or recycling options. Some contractors are aware of carpet manufacturers take-back schemes but the regular use of these was found in only about one-third of the contractors interviewed. The "Other" category includes companies that subcontract out all waste disposal or who find the tiles are always disposed of by the customer. 9% Cost 39% Convenient location 39% Knowing a company we trust to dispose of them correctly Other Figure 4 What influences how a contractor will dispose of carpet tiles? 5

6 What do you see as the main barriers to reuse and recycling? Flooring contractors point to cost and the lack of (or lack of awareness of) viable collection and reuse & recycling schemes as major factors in the low level of recycling. In addition the role of other companies in uplifting old tiles limits their scope to pursue recycling options. Practical considerations, such as lack of space to store waste tiles and the mix of materials used within tiles were also highlighted. 4% 26% Uplifted before arrival Cost Not practical 17% Not applicable (E.g don't handle waste myself) Lack of recycling options 18% 22% Not aware of recycling options Figure 5 What do you see as the main barriers to reuse and recycling? Would customers think of your company more favourably if you were offering a sustainable alternative to landfill with no additional costs? Around 52% of contractors thought their customers would respond positively or may respond positively if a viable recycling option existed. One contractor commented that offering to recycle had actually won him a job recently. 26% did not think that offering a sustainable alternative would attract more business. 22% 26% 26% 26% Definitely Possibly No Not specified Figure 6 Would customers think of your company more favourably if you were offering a sustainable alternative to landfill? 6

7 Conclusions and Recommendations The focus on flooring contractors, means that perhaps only around 50% of uplifted tiles have been covered by this study. Several of the flooring contractors suggested that they were the wrong target audience for the survey. They indicated that the strip out and refurbishment companies should be targeted as in many cases they dispose of the tiles before the contractors lay the new floor. Reuse & recycling seems very limited, with many contractors unaware of any viable collection or recycling option. Some would like to adopt recycling if it were available but have practical problems such as storage of used tiles if they were to collect them themselves. Most flooring contractors believe that they would be viewed favourably by their customers if able to offer a recycling option, but cost is still the key factor. There is limited use of manufacturers take-back schemes. Carpet Recycling UK recommends the following additional work should be carried out to provide a more complete view of the industry and the potential for recycling. The companies involved in carpet removal other than the flooring contractors should be interviewed to establish their disposal practices and perceptions on barriers to recycling. This would include the contractors customers, strip out companies, facilities management companies and, quite possibly, carpet distributors and waste companies. The markets for reuse & recycling should be analysed to determine if they can absorb additional material, up to the 64,000 tonnes of waste tiles believed to arise per year. A demonstration project should be run with a sample group of companies, in order to develop comprehensive collection schemes that feed material to reuse and recycling outlets. The findings from this project could be used to establish a case study to promote recycling & reuse of carpet tiles. 7

8 Appendix A Contractor survey questions 1) How many m 2 of carpet tile did you supply and fit in 2012? 2) Who removes and disposes of the old flooring? 3) How many m 2 of carpet tiles did you dispose of in 2012? 4) How do you dispose of carpet tiles? 5) What influences how you dispose of carpet tiles? 6) Do you use manufacturer take back schemes and if so which ones? 7) What are the barriers to you sending carpet tiles for reuse or recycling? 8) What would allow you to recycle more of your carpet tiles or send them for reuse? 9) Do you think your customers would look on your organisation more favourably if you were offering a sustainable disposal alternative to landfill without additional cost? Appendix B List of Respondents 1 3D Flooring 2 Abbotts Flooring 3 Admiral Carpets 4 Aizlewood and Casson 5 Allard & Co 6 Alpha Flooring 7 Amy Flooring 8 Ardayre Interiors 9 Arvin & Sons Ltd 10 Astrosyn 11 Axiom Group 12 Bailey and Taylor 13 Bartram Flooring Services 14 Berkshire Flooring 15 Bradford Watts 16 Bramhall Flooring 17 Chelmer Flooring Ltd 18 Delta Commercial Flooring 19 Fresco Interiors 20 Hutton Premesis Solutions 21 John Abbott Flooring 22 John Butler Flooring 23 Newcastle Flooring 24 Zelltec Construction Services 8

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