The latest government waste report revealed that 25.6 million tonnes of waste were collected from UK households, which increased by 5% since 2018. With the ease of online shopping, the boredom of lockdown and the eagerness of DIYers, where will all this waste go, particularly leftover flooring?
The coronavirus restricted many things we’d usually take for granted. Visiting a flooring store is one of them. Most sites were forced to update their web presence to give customers the same experience as a brick and mortar store. Surprisingly, the ease of online shopping mixed with lockdown banality has inspired many to adopt a DIY mindset.
But when it comes to doing the floor yourself, where is all the leftover flooring supposed to go?
What are the do and don’ts of DIY waste?
Britain’s fly-tipping problem
Fly-tipping has risen year on year, with recent statistics showing that in 2019/20, local authorities dealt with 976,000 fly-tipping incidents. A worrying finding from this is that nearly two-thirds of all these incidents were generated from household waste. Not only that, but the type specified is the likes of old furniture, carpets and small scale DIY works.
If you ever find yourself in possession of leftover scraps and don’t want to pay excessive DIY waste fees at your local recycling center, there are great options out there to dispose of your DIY waste safely.
Recycling vinyl & carpet
There are some easy alternatives to recycling vinyl. For example, the nationwide Recofloor scheme partners up with local flooring distributors across the UK and Ireland, allowing cut-offs from waste vinyl projects to be dropped off and recycled into new flooring.
Can’t find a nearby distributor? Those looking to divert reusable flooring from landfills can donate their unwanted items using sites like FreeCycle [4] ; for items such as carpets try the Reuse network.
There are also flooring products on the market that are 100% recyclable such as Moduleo flooring. The flooring itself comprises 50% already recycled materials. It uses water-based inks and PU coatings that emit zero fumes, making scraps and cut offs wholly suitable for the recycling bin.
The Circular Carpet Economy
The need for a circular economy has become more widespread as the world aims to cut down on waste. Promoting a “zero to landfill” waste policy, Best4flooring utilise a Kenburn Carpet Crusher to compact and recycle both carpet and underlay waste. This waste is collected, shredded and re-used for equestrian flooring.
Best4flooring is a proud member of Carpet Recycling UK, the non-profit membership association dedicated to reducing carpet waste sent to landfill.
Paul Humpries, MD of Best4flooring, comments, “As a member of Carpet Recycling UK, we’re committed to being a business with a positive environmental stance. Installing the carpet crusher within our facility has had great benefits via reduced skip costs and keeping in line with our “zero to landfill” policy.”
Carpet Crusher Video 2 minutes:
However, for the average homeowner, there are ways to re-use old flooring and new cut-offs without needing any machinery!
Try Upcycling
There are countless ways to repurpose old flooring; for instance, unused or old leftover laminate could be retooled to create anything from desktops to serving trays. Pieces of vinyl can be taken and updated into other areas of the home, inside kitchen cabinets or cut and made into coffee table coasters.
Best4Flooring has over 20 years experience in the flooring trade and has been selling online since 2009. Based in Cheshire, UK, Best4Flooring supplies to consumers and trade throughout the whole of the UK. Ranges include luxury vinyl, laminate, engineered wood and cushioned sheet vinyl. Best4Flooring is also an official Moduleo e-commerce partner.
