2022
The Australian Government is supporting the Australian Resilient Flooring Association (ARFA) to divert floor covering products such as vinyl, linoleum and rubber from ending up in landfill.
The problem
As at May 2022, an estimated 22.2 million square metres, or 95,000 tonnes of flooring is consumed in Australia each year. The total amount of vinyl flooring currently in use in Australia is estimated to be 256 million square metres, or 1,030,000 tonnes.
Despite resilient flooring having a lifespan of up to 30 years, it is often changed before reaching the end of its life due to changing trends. This means around 48,000 tonnes of flooring waste is generated annually, much of which is of decent quality and suitable for re-use or recycle.
The solution
The (ARFA) will work with the entire supply chain to design a product stewardship scheme for resilient flooring. This will be achieved by completing field trials to test various approaches, considering reverse logistics, feedstock demand and suitable reprocessing technology. The project will deliver a detailed roadmap to guide industry to participate in an enduring product stewardship scheme including funding options.
This project complements Australia’s waste plastic export ban by seeking new ways to recycle vinyl and comparable products previously exported and find ways for diverting much of these waste resources from landfill.
As part of the grant, the ARFA will support industry to overcome current recycling challenges such as brand-by-brand approaches and by influencing sector wide behaviour changes, including with third-party installers and downstream stakeholders.
The Australian Government is supporting this project with a grant of $1 million through the National Product Stewardship Investment Fund.
When
The project will be completed by March 2023.
Contact
ARFA: info@arfa.org.au 02 6247 3811
Department: Product.Stewardship@awe.gov.au