Results

Tarkett

Tarkett is a leading provider of innovative and sustainable flooring and sports surfaces with 2010 revenue of $2.55 billion. Nearly 9,000 employees serve Tarkett’s customers in more than 100 countries and through 28 different production sites.¹

Key Environmental Performance Areas:

• Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Facilities)
• Waste Reduction and Recycling (Facilities)
• Water Use Reduction (Facilities)

Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Facilities)

In 2010, as part of the Green Portfolio Program, Tarkett began actively measuring energy consumption in its manufacturing facilities against a 2009 baseline. In absolute terms, GHG emissions from these sources have increased approximately 10%, compared to 2009, due mainly to production volume increase and change in scope (opening of new plant in Russia). Over the same time period, efficiency has improved by almost 2% (GHGs/square meter of product). The improvement in efficiency has helped Tarkett to avoid more than $415,000 in energy costs and more than 6 metric tons of GHG emissions since 2009.

Results

Tarkett: Manufacturing Plants Efficiency (2009 Baseline)

Actions

In 2010, Tarkett achieved these results by implementing the following main initiatives:

• Using saw dust to provide energy in the Serbian facility
• Reducing energy consumption in the Italian plant through energy recycling in a combined cycle generator
• Implementation of oven emissions incinerators in the Serbian facility

Future Plans

In 2011 and 2012, Tarkett is continuing to focus on improving energy efficiency in its manufacturing facilities (each plant has a 5% annual energy consumption reduction target) and is considering or implementing the following strategic initiatives:

• Implementing energy management systems, including energy efficient equipment for heating, cooling and production
• Increasing share of renewable energies used in the facilities, through local installations using renewable energy sources
• Measuring and reporting transportation emissions in order to leverage opportunities to decrease the overall footprint of its products

Return to top

Waste Reduction and Recycling (Facilities)

Tarkett has a strong record in sustainable development and pioneered the concept of flooring recycling as early as 1957. In 2010, Tarkett continued its focus on reducing and recycling waste from its manufacturing facilities as part of the Green Portfolio Program against a 2009 baseline. Since 2009, Tarkett has reduced the waste going to landfills in absolute terms by approximately 14% and has improved its waste efficiency by approximately 23% (tons of waste/square meters of product). These improvements have helped Tarkett to realize a combined cost avoidance and recycling revenue of more than $5.7 million, with revenue from recycling being the main contributor to this financial impact. Since 2009, this represents approximately 5,000 tons of waste avoided, and more than 9,700 tons of waste collected from external sources and used as raw material.²

Results

Tarkett: Manufacturing Waste Reduction (2009 Baseline)

Actions

In 2010, Tarkett achieved these results through the following initiatives:

• Converting some chemical products to more environmentally friendly products that are also easier to recycle
• Returning waste, such as packaging, to suppliers for re-use

Future Plans

In 2011 and 2012, Tarkett is continuing to focus on reducing waste and is implementing new programs, including:

• Tarkett’s commitment to the Cradle-to-cradle® approach that continuously drives its Research & Innovation activities towards ensuring that more manufacturing waste enter into biological or technical cycles
• Increasing the share of recycled material content, which will be supported by the development of recycling processes of post-installation and post-use flooring materials, an area that remains very challenging for the industry and one where Tarkett hopes to lead
• The above strategic initiatives will also be made possible by the development of take-back programs, through a community of local partners and systems facilitating reclamation and recycling
• Locally, the sites are in the process of implementing solutions for recycling raw materials (such as ink and chemicals)

Return to top

Water Use Reduction (Facilities)

In 2010, Tarkett focused on reducing water consumption in its manufacturing facilities as part of the Green Portfolio Program against a 2009 baseline. Since 2009, Tarkett has reduced fresh water consumption in absolute terms by approximately 24% and has improved its water efficiency by more than 30% (liters of water/square meters of product). These improvements have helped Tarkett to avoid consuming approximately 300 million liters of water since 2009.³

Results

Tarkett: Water Efficiency Results (2009 Baseline)

Actions

In 2010, Tarkett achieved these results through process improvements and technology upgrades (cooling systems), thereby increasing water recycling in the manufacturing facilities (four facilities have managed to reduce water consumption by 50%).

Future Plans

In 2011 and 2012, Tarkett is continuing to focus on the reduction of fresh water use, e.g. by developing local solutions to implement closed industrial water circuits in its facilities by 2015.

Tarkett enrolled in the Green Portfolio Program in 2010 and is reporting as part of the program for the first time. For more on Tarkett’s sustainability efforts including historic trends, please visit Sustainability at Tarkett.

It is noteworthy that Tarkett was awarded the Strategic Development trophy for major companies in the second edition of the Green Business Awards (organized by BFM Media Group), which recognizes the engagement of companies in sustainability. The jury also paid tribute to Tarkett’s environmental strategy.

Return to top

Notes:

¹The data and information included in this report cover Tarkett’s global manufacturing plant footprint (offices and warehouses are not included), apart from 2 facilities (in Spain and the USA) acquired in 2010, 1 facility in France acquired in 2011, and two joint ventures in Germany.

²When taking into account re-use of internal process waste, the equivalent of 103,000 tons of vinyl have been diverted from landfill by Tarkett in 2010.

³Since Tarkett obtains a significant portion of its water from in-facility wells, the company does not actually pay market prices for water; hence this report does not state any financial impact of the water efficiency improvements.