Guide for choosing an eco-responsible floor

Discover our step by step guide on how to choose the best eco-responsible flooring for your environment.

1. Choose a floor covering that can be installed without any glue

Snap-together tiles or textile-backed rolls: we offer several ranges of loose-lay products.

Glue-free installation provides a number of advantages:

A lower carbon footprint for your project by avoiding the use of glue and the frequent need for levelling compounds
A reduction in the VOC emissions caused by glue
Easy and quick installation
Easy recycling

2. Choose a lightweight floor covering or a solution containing recycled materials

To scale down the use of virgin materials, which significantly increase the product's carbon footprint, remember to choose a lighter floor covering (meaning that fewer raw materials are used) or a solution containing recycled materials.

Our vinyl tiles and planks contain up to 55% recycled materials.

3. Keep your floor coverings for longer

Our floors are designed to last for up to 25 years. The longer you keep your floor, the more you will reduce your impact on the environment.

4. Choose an easy-to-clean floor

Cleaning (water, detergent and electricity for vacuuming) represents 10 to 20% of a floor covering's total carbon footprint when considering all the steps in its lifecycle, from cradle to grave. The less water, detergent or electricity used, the more you will reduce your impact on the environment.

5. Choose a light floor to cut down on artificial lighting

A light colour can reduce a lighting system's energy consumption by up to 60% compared to a dark colour.

6. Remember to recycle

Our PVC floors are 100% recyclable.

Gerflor works alongside a network of installation companies and distributors to collect your installation offcuts and end-of-life flooring.

Floor coverings are then treated in a specialised Paprec / Gerflor recycling centre. Your old flooring will be turned into new flooring.

Ask your installation company or your store if they take part in the "Gerflor Second Life" programme.

You can always count on Gerflor

Service

Stuck with your project? Want to ask a question or need some advice? Contact Gerflor's teams and get the best support and advice for your needs.