2009 PRESS RELEASE
Quadrant says 'thank you' for helping reduce landfill
Innovative carpet manufacturer, Quadrant, are thanking their customers for helping to reduce the amount of carpet folders and samples being sent to landfill by more than seven tons. The company’s R4 initiative encourages architects and designers to call on Quadrant to dispose of carpet folders and samples produced by themselves or by their competitors.
The results of the ‘less landfill project’, part of Quadrant’s wide reaching Tread Lightly campaign, have been announced in the company’s Environmental Progress Report 2008. The report aims to ensure that information about Quadrant’s progress towards becoming an environmentally sustainable business is unambiguous and totally transparent.
Despite tricky trading conditions, the results revealed wide-ranging improvements. Quadrant increased the recycled content of primary backings by more than 21% in 12 months to a total of 43.47%, and reduced precoat consumption by more than 19%, representing a saving of more 286 tons of virgin compound.
Overall, 26.65% of all fibre used by Quadrant to make commercial carpet tiles was recycled and almost 92% was solution dyed, a process that significantly reduces the volume of water used in carpet dyeing.
On-going green initiatives by the company include the development of a carpet tile backing that contains significant recycled material, due for launch in 2009. The new backing will result in a reduction of to the overall weight of Quadrant’s products and will substitute substantial quantities of virgin raw materials for recycled materials.
The company has also made significant and exciting progress in developing an end-of-life recycling solution for bitumen backed carpet tiles. The idea is currently being trialed through CRUK (Carpet Recycling UK), of which Quadrant is a founder member, and positive results are expected early in 2009.
The announcement by Quadrant comes in the wake of a survey by the Environmental Agency which revealed that more than half of all businesses questioned planned to reduce investment in environmental initiatives in order to improve cash flow. Water efficiency appeared to have fallen the furthest down the list of priorities with only 10 per cent of firms placing water conservation above energy efficiency, despite the fact that a single dripping tap could cost more than £900 a year in water and treatment costs.
For full details of Quadrant’s new Environmental Progress Report see our progress timeline. Companies wishing to reduce the volume of carpet samples going to landfill, should use our Sample Folder Recycling service.
