Carpet producers support mandatory action to make the sector go circular
Press Contact:
Joan Marc Simon, Executive Director, Zero Waste Europe
j[email protected] / +32 (0) 2 736 20 91
We want carpets to be #toxic free, reusable, separately collected and recyclable, so we teamed up with carpet producers to make the sector go circular! ♻️
Read our joint position: https://t.co/ySGW7HK6HB ????#circulareconomy #reuse #recycle pic.twitter.com/CQk8A4NgwA— Zero Waste Europe (@zerowasteeurope) December 5, 2018
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Brussels, 5/12/18
Carpet manufacturers and civil society join voices to make the carpet industry go circular, and urge the European Commission and Member States to adopt mandatory rules to push the whole sector in this direction. Launched by Zero Waste Europe, the call to action is supported by DSM-Niaga, Interface and Tarkett.
As a reaction to the Policy Toolkit for Carpet Circularity in EU Member States published by Eunomia on December 4, Zero Waste Europe calls on carpet companies to agree on the vision that by 2025 all commercial and household carpets put on the market should be free of any potentially harmful substance, and should be reusable, separately collected, and fully recyclable.
In order to make this a reality, the sector must phase out hazardous substances and virgin materials, and transition towards safe and healthy components including an increasing rate of recycled or renewable content.
The time is ripe for a Circular Economy for carpets, but this will only happen if a mandatory approach with ambitious policies is adopted. The toolkit proposed by Eunomia provides a range of options that policy-makers can choose from to accelerate circular economy in the carpet sector while, at the same time, helping to achieve the EU waste recycling and landfilling targets.
Zero Waste Europe, DSM-Niaga, Interface and Tarkett support the use of efficient, transparent and well-designed Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes as a way to create the necessary incentives to drive this transition, and commit to support them in the countries considering mandatory measures that allow the carpet sector to go circular.
Lukas Hoex, Manager Strategic Growth at DSM-Niaga, said:
“DSM-Niaga is concerned about carpet waste, and believes producer responsibility is a big part of the solution. Manufacturers of any kind of product, also carpet, have to design and make products with recycling in mind, and support the collection of products after use. Mandatory disclosure of ingredients is in our view an urgent part of extended producer responsibility, since it supports the consumer to make better choices and the supports recyclers to handle products in the right way.’’
Geanne van Arkel, Head of Sustainable Development in Interface EMEA, said:
“For the last 24 years Interface has focused on embedding sustainability into our operations and products. We’ve instituted circular solutions to creating products including identification and elimination of materials of concern, introduction of recycled materials and new processes to reclaim and reuse products across our global business. As a result, 58 percent of raw materials in our products are recycled or bio-based. By creating modular flooring products that can be installed, replaced, reused and recycled simply we are leading our industry to design with the planet and people in mind. This transformative approach shows it is possible to make a profit sustainably. If we can do this, other businesses can too. We support the intention of this report, to drive a more sustainable vision and greater accountability for our industry. We know through collaboration with industry partners, the supply chain, customers, other sectors and Governments, focused on circularity, we can take back our climate for future generations.”
Myriam TRYJEFACZKA, Sustainability and Public Affairs Director at Tarkett EMEA, said:
“Tarkett believes the frameworks and mechanisms of EPR schemes, if implemented, should be designed to ensure that specific take back systems developed by individual companies can co-exist with mandatory regulated systems, and rewarded through proper modulated fees and flexible frameworks.
In any case, it should be a prerequisite to develop product passports. On this topic, Tarkett can share its experience in developing Material Health Statements, a voluntary transparency tool which is third party assessed. Material transparency, eco-design and either closed or open loops are fundamental to develop a healthy and circular economy in the long run.”
Joan Marc Simon, Executive Director at Zero Waste Europe, said:
“Current legislative and economic frameworks in the carpet sector lock the industry into a wasteful linear system. To build a true Circular Economy we need new rules and incentives to bring the whole sector to a higher level of ambition. This is why we support the measures proposed in the Eunomia toolkit, and we call on the European Commission and Member States to set the legal framework that will make the carpet sector go circular”.
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Read the joint statement here.