Page 21 from: April 2011

21April 2011

InterfaceFLOR – a worldwide leader in the design and
production of innovative, high-quality, modular floor
coverings – has developed a ground-breaking recycling
process for carpets. Known as ReEntry 2.0, this boasts the
capacity to divert around 2700 tonnes per year of valuable
oil-intensive material from landfill or incineration.

The new ReEntry 2.0 process is a ‘technical breakthrough in the
European carpet industry’, according to
InterfaceFLOR. ‘This latest innovation is
the evolution of a process pioneered by
Interface in the United States four years
ago. It enables significant and scalable
like-for-like recycling of carpet tiles, rep-
resenting an important step closer to
closed-loop manufacturing in Europe.’
ReEntry 2.0 uses a highly-efficient tech-
nology that separates yarn and backing
from used carpet tiles so that these two
materials can be put to the same use in
new tiles. The process ensures that each

recycling initiatives, the company has
cut waste sent to landfill by more than
80% and saved over US$ 433 million in
terms of avoided waste costs.
InterfaceFLOR has also launched a ‘war
on waste’ campaign. Throwing away
carpet is seen as the cheap and easy
solution in many countries and no law
currently exists to hold manufacturers
responsible for their end-of-life prod-
ucts. Therefore, the company is calling
for action to change waste legislation
as it relates to the European flooring
and construction industry.
InterfaceFLOR is the modular flooring
division of US-based Interface Inc. The
company is a worldwide leader in the
design and production of innovative,
high-quality, modular floor coverings. It
was one of the first firms publicly to
commit to sustainability when it made
its pledge in the mid-1990s to eliminate
its impact on the environment by 2020.
Interface is now more than half way
towards reaching its Mission Zero goal
and has been widely recognised for its
achievements to date. Its products have
also received several awards, specifi-
cally for design and innovation.
www.interfaceflor.eu or

www.interfaceglobal.com

C A R P E T R E C Y C L I N G By Karen Hall

Ton van Keken, Senior Vice
President of Operations at
InterfaceFLOR EMEAI.

component of the carpet tile retains its
material value, allowing it to be re-used
as new raw material for new products.
This is especially important for recycling
nylon yarn – the most carbon-intensive
part of carpet.
ReEntry 2.0 can process the most wide-
ly used carpet tiles on the European
market today and, it is claimed, is set to
divert around 2700 tonnes of oil-inten-
sive material annually from disposal –
equivalent to more than 600 000 m² of
carpet tiles. According to InterfaceFLOR,
life-cycle assessment has shown that
materials recycled via ReEntry 2.0
require four times less energy to process
than equivalent virgin materials for car-
pets. This decreases to twenty times less
energy for backing when taking into
account the use of 100% renewable
electricity at InterfaceFLOR’s facility at
Scherpenzeel in The Netherlands where
the process is based.

Closing the loop
ReEntry 2.0 is the latest in a line of
waste recycling initiatives from Inter-
faceFLOR, which reflect the company’s
commitment to closing the loop in the
manufacturing process. The company
has offered a product take-back scheme

since 1995 which helps customers to
reduce their own impact on the envi-
ronment; since its inception, this
scheme has diverted more than 91 000
tonnes of carpet from disposal.
Ton van Keken, Senior Vice President of
Operations at InterfaceFLOR EMEAI says:
‘For many years the carpet industry has
struggled to develop recycling methods
that are economically and technically
viable. In Europe alone, it is estimated
that nearly 30 million m2 of carpet tiles
could be sent to landfill or incinerated in
2011. This is a waste of valuable resourc-
es and has an unacceptable impact on
the environment. With capacity diminish-
ing rapidly and landfill tax rising annu-
ally, it is clear that this option is both
environmentally and financially unsus-
tainable. Re-Entry 2.0 is a significant step
forward for InterfaceFLOR in Europe. It
moves like-for-like recycling to the next
level, bringing us closer to our ambition
to close the loop in manufacturing.’

‘War on waste’
With its ‘Mission Zero’ pledge, Interface-
FLOR is committed to eliminating its
global environmental impacts by 2020,
including producing zero waste. Since
1996, through numerous reduction and

recycling process
covers new ground

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