Three flooring companies have received Gold Certificates in the first-ever Recofloor Awards for recycling the most waste vinyl flooring in 2010. Members of the UK's first vinyl flooring recycling scheme, managed by Axion Consulting, collected more than 200 tonnes of material last year – easily surpassing the 175 tonnes target. The 2010 total also represents a 33% increase on the 150 tonnes recycled in 2009.

Gold Award winners scoring more than 50 points were Hull Flooring (77), Ross Hughes Flooring, Caernarfon (65) and Mayfield Flooring, Stockport (64). Eleven companies scoring 20 points or more collected Silver Certificates - along with two distributors, Kent Flooring and STS Flooring in Orpington which qualified for collecting enough material through their drop-off facilities.

Praised for its 'extreme commitment' to Recofloor, Hull Flooring collected 11% of the scheme’s total 2010 tonnage. In addition to its day-to-day collections, the firm helped two large retail outlets recycle their waste flooring from major refurbishment projects at nationwide stores. It also recycles many materials from installation processes, where practicable, such as cardboard, plastics, paper and even empty latex smoothing compound bottles.

Sean Dawson, Hull Flooring's Managing Director said: "We're delighted to achieve our vinyl waste recycling goal as intended. Demonstrating our commitment to Green issues certainly acts as a ‘selling tool’ for our business. As margins get tighter, this helps to differentiate our business and attract new customers through being able to offer that little bit extra."

Ross Hughes Flooring was singled out for having 'consistently contributed' to the scheme from a wide variety of different projects. Recofloor’s Project Manager, Jane Gardner commented: "They have been collecting large groups of pallets for Recofloor almost from the start and have quickly proved that waste can be turned into gold!"

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Lynne Roberts, Ross Hughes Flooring Admin Manager commented: "Winning this award is good for us as it complements the Environmental Green Dragon Level 2 certification we gained for our recycling efforts. Considering we cover a relatively small area, it’s great to get this far!"

Jane congratulated Mayfield Flooring on its support, saying: "As one of the original trial members, they are familiar with what is acceptable. They have provided good quality material for the scheme, as well as regular volume."

Anthony Francis, Mayfield Flooring Director said: "We are extremely proud of achieving this gold award. We have always put a large emphasis on recycling and this is a nice reward for our efforts. In these hard economic times it is vital to explore all avenues of cutting overheads and the Recofloor service has gone some way to cutting our costs for the disposable of waste material."

Bronze Certificates were also awarded to smaller companies in recognition of their contribution to the industry-supported scheme, which launched nationally in September 2009. Points are awarded on a per pallet basis according to the number of fitters a company has. This allows efforts by small companies with fewer fitters to be recognised fairly alongside larger national firms.

Jane continued: "We're delighted with all our members' achievements and hard work in helping to maintain high standards of uplifted, offcuts and safety flooring material for recycling in line with the Recofloor specification.

"These awards reward their commitment to the quality and quantity of returned material, ensuring it can be diverted from landfill and reused in diverse applications from new flooring products to traffic management equipment."

Recofloor was founded by leading flooring manufacturers Altro and Polyflor to tackle growing volumes of waste vinyl sent to landfill. Local authorities, distributors and contractors all benefit from the scheme in terms of saving valuable landfill space, reduced disposal costs and accentuating 'green' credentials.

Recofloor's 265 active members across the UK and Ireland comprise flooring contractors, drop-off sites at flooring distributors and waste transfer stations, as well as construction projects at schools, hospitals and leading retail stores.

Last year, Recofloor's unique, innovative and sustainable approach to the collection and recycling of waste vinyl flooring triumphed at the 2010 Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) Awards for Environmental Excellence. Recofloor won the Innovative Practice in Waste Management and Resource Recovery (SME) category. The annual CIWM awards recognise and reward good practice in sustainable waste and resource management.

For more information on Recofloor, contact 0161 355 7618 or email: recofloor@axionconsulting.co.uk