The CFA is delighted to be supporting a new project called CISUFLO that it will be engaging with over the next four years, says Richard.
TO those of us working in the commercial flooring sector, it’s obvious flooring is a key element in the design of all the public buildings and spaces we use on a day-to-day basis. Floors generally need to be functional and practical but, on many occasions, play an important part in the overall decoration, helping to make great places to visit or work.
Installed correctly (by a CFA member) there are many products that can offer that combination of properties across a significant lifespan.
In the commercial flooring market, we’re acutely aware of our responsibility to ensure the products we install continue to improve their sustainability. Critical thinking suggests one of the best ways to do that is to make and install products which can remain within a circular model.
Our recent Zero Avoidable Waste (ZAW) report highlighted this. The CFA is therefore delighted to be supporting a new project called CISUFLO that we’ll be engaging with over the next four years. The following press release from the project coordinators explains more:
The CISUFLO project, Circular Sustainable Floorings, aims to develop innovative circular products for the flooring industry, prompting, in the long run, the adoption of a circular economy model throughout the entire value chain and beyond.
The workplan foresees the implementation of six pilots focusing on manufacturing, sorting, separation, and recycling of floorcoverings and on the scaling up of novel technologies. The pilots cover three different value chains and sectors, namely carpets, resilient flooring products and wood laminates.
CISUFLO will establish new synergies with other linked sectors and provide policymakers with useful inputs for standardization and legislation.
Officially started on 1 June 2021, CISUFLO has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Grant Agreement No 101003893, in response to the call H2020-SC5-2020-2. For its deployment it’s been allocated €7,69m by the Horizon2020 funding program to be distributed over a 48-month period.
CISUFLO will have a positive impact on the whole sector and beyond. The project will cover the full lifecycle of flooring, from design to end-of-life. It will look at innovative business models, cover installation as well as collection and sorting and recycling at the end-of-life. The project will also go beyond flooring and investigate how the learnings from CISUFLO can be applied to other areas of the construction products sector.
CISUFLO will boost the environmental performance of the sector, contributing to the achievement of SDG12 ‘responsible consumption and production’, SDG11 ‘Sustainable cities and communities’ by minimising the per capita environmental impact of cities for flooring waste, to SDG9 ‘Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure’ and finally, SDG 13 ‘Climate Action’.
This Innovation Action gathers 19 partners from seven different countries, led by the Belgian collective center Centexbel, and 32 voluntary supporting parties that will contribute with feedback and results exploitation. Most of the partners are experienced in circularisation and/or in participating to European research consortia.
The kick-off meeting, held online on the 16 and 17 June 2021, gave the official start to the CISUFLO project. During the meeting, after having discussed administrative and financial topics, the partners polished the first period’s implementation plan. With the project’s official launch, the CISUFLO partners are now ready to carry out their assigned tasks and work together towards the realisation of the expected outcomes.
While the detail of the work packages is now being developed, the CFA and FITA (and we expect some of our members) will be involved in many different aspects including socioeconomic and business modelling, as well as practical trials for development products.
The CFA was invited to be involved as we’re fairly unique in our representation and reach in the European and UK markets. As such, we’ll also play an important role in dissemination and communication of the outcomes. I genuinely feel this project has the potential to accelerate the shape and future direction of our industry.
For more information relating to the overall project, contact Guy Buyle, CISUFLO project coordinator and manager EU research at Centexbel, at gbu@centexbel.be. For further information on CFA involvement, please contact Richard Catt – richard@cfa.org.uk
The CFA is a leading trade association representing the flooring industry. If you’d like an application pack or further information on the benefits of membership, contact the CFA offices on the details below.
0115 9411126
info@cfa.org.uk
www.cfa.org.uk
