Page 38 - History-of-flooringLR

Since 2008 Carpet Recycling UK (CRUK) has become the UK industry leader and go to body on
sustainability for textile flooring for information and support on waste minimisation, design for the
circular economy and outlets for treatment of textile flooring waste, using the waste hierarchy and its membership and
wider international network. CRUK works to help the sector to collaborate to create new market based solutions and
synergies as well as representing the sector at policy level for favourable change.

Prior to 2007 2013
• Environmental awareness was growing in general, and it was • Edie Resource Revolution Award Winner ‘for bringing
understood that nothing was being done to address the issues businesses together to make the step change needed for
of carpet waste until CRUK was established. greater reuse and recovery of this challenging material stream’.

2007 2014
• Carpet Recycling UK was established, promoting the use of • First Member Awards Ceremony at Annual Conference
textile flooring as a sustainable resource, finding market based presented by Bob Peoples of Carpet America Recovery Effort.
solutions Set up by a group of industry specialists including
Laurance Bird who had previously retired from Dupont, and 2015
directed Carpet Recycling UK in his retirement until 2018. At • Resource and cost savings demonstrated by retailer Arighi
the time only 2% of carpet waste was being diverted from Bianchi through compaction and use of a Kenburn carpet
landfill. crusher.

2008 2016
• Supported leaner manufacturing processes, reuse and take • Cormar supports campaign to help its larger customers to
back schemes. reduce waste and save on related cost.
• Introduction of carpet tile reuse ref Greenstream Flooring and
Spruce Carpets. 2018
• Carpet producers began to recycle edge trims and other • Carpet Recycling UK celebrates its 10 year anniversary.
pre-consumer. • Milestone of approx. one million tonnes textile flooring waste
diverted from landfill by industry.
2009 • Cormar reported at CRUK’s conference £3 million saving
• Trial by CRUK in conjunction with Axion Polymers to test the through innovative approach thanks to its 10 year association
recyclability of pp carpets into pellets – Jane Gardner with Carpet Recycling UK.
presented at first Carpet Recycling UK conference. • 42% landfill diversion recorded.
• Greenstream Flooring CIC (formerly known as Cleanstream • Winner of the Innovation Gold Award for Landfill Diversion in
CIC) opens as a carpet tile reuse organisation in South Wales. the Environmental Category of the National Flooring
Innovations Awards.
2010 • Interiors Monthly Awards winner.
• Marie Rhodes joined Carpet Recycling UK in a coordinator • Jane Gardner moves on to ERFMI and Adnan Zeb-Khan
role, Jane Gardner of Axion joined as Manager. replaces Jane as Carpet Recycling UK as Manager, bringing 20+
• Carpet Recycling UK team exhibit at Ecobuild for the first years waste management experience.
time. • NextGen Single polymer broadloom carpets are introduced
• Non-wovens sector announces new underlay made from into the UK market by Betap.
100% carpet offcut waste.
• DESSO (Tarkett) opens scheme to take back commercial
carpet tiles for recycling, now known as ReStart.
• CRUK starts to focus on key retailers, signing up retail buying
groups Flooring One, Greendale and Metro.

2011
• Membership network represented for the first time at
-The Buying Groups National Flooring Show
at Flooring One Shirley
-The Flooring Show in Harrogate
2012
• Aquafil closes the loop with recycled Econyl yarn, presenting
at CRUK seminar at Ecobuild.
• Desso (now Tarkett) launch their EcoBase backing – Cradle to
Cradle Gold Certified and 100% closed-loop recyclable in their
own production processes.

38 The History of Flooring