Like any industry, the flooring industry faces sustainability challenges.
Almost every flooring manufacturer we know claims their floors are sustainable. We see a never-ending line-up of badges and accreditations, that rubber stamp environmental credentials, so it is no surprise that things get confusing.
If sustainability matters, and for many of our customers it does, then how can you be sure you are making the right choice? Here are our top tips when it comes to eco-friendly flooring.
1. Think about the “whole-life cycle” of the product.
When assessing sustainability, you cannot simply look at what the product is made from. You also need to think about where the raw materials are sourced from, the carbon footprint to get the floor to your home, and, most importantly, how the product will be handled at the end of its life. This is called a life cycle analysis, and if companies are serious about sustainability, they will have completed one for their product. There is a detailed article explaining this process here – Life Cycle Analysis.
The reality is, the majority of mid-priced engineered floors have a supply chain where European Oak is exported to Asia, where manufacturing costs are lower, and then the finished floor is shipped back to Europe. This doesn’t score well in a life cycle analysis. More premium, and sustainable options, are manufactured in Europe, as ideally, your raw materials should be sourced as close to your manufacturer as possible.
Looking at the end of life, while the majority of wood floors can be recycled, Vinyl flooring, is harder to dispose of.
We found this article useful on cheaper vinyl floors – The dirty truth about your fake wood floors.
2. If the product is wood, is it accredited by either of the two best-known accreditation bodies, the FSC or the PEFA?
It’s very common for flooring retailers to simply state “we sell natural wood flooring, and it’s great for the environment”, but it’s rare for consumers to challenge this statement.
A good place to start is to see if the flooring is accredited. The FSC or Forest Stewardship Council GmbH is an international non-profit, that promotes responsible management of the world’s forests via timber certification. If a wood floor is accredited by the FSC, it is the gold standard of sustainability. For a timber floor certification to be achieved, the product’s supply chain must be audited by an inspector.
The reality with manufacturers is products are assessed, but then supply chains change; whether it’s the timber, or the birch or ply that makes up the core of an engineered product. We also know it’s common to see statements like “70% FSC compliant,” which is a way for manufacturers to give themselves sourcing flexibility.
For an example of the standards that can be set, we always look outside the flooring industry, and a company we admire is Ikea. Ikea are currently at 98% of product being sourced from FSC accredited forest, and are working towards a “Forest Positive Agenda”. This includes a commitment that “one third of the IKEA wood-based range will be made from recycled wood by 2030”. Ikea’s commitment.
The FSC is not the only show in town, and another well known accreditation body to look out for is the PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification). However, we’ve read articles that claim there are over 50 timber accreditation bodies, so it’s easy to see how consumers can get confused.
3. How is the product made?
The less energy-intensive the production, the better. Flooring solutions, like cork, which is a natural harvested product, will always be sustainable. Solutions, that are more energy-intensive, such as vinyl or laminate, will be less sustainable. Wood products, generally sit somewhere in the middle. In this research paper, Solid wood flooring is shown to require significantly less energy to produce than vinyl based products. Life cycle analysis of different flooring options.
4. How much raw material is used?
This is something that, when you think about it, is obvious, but is rarely considered. With wood flooring, clearly, the fewer trees you cut down, the better, regardless of whether it’s sustainable or not. The world needs more trees!
So, floors with very thick oak top layers will be worse for the environment. This is one of the reasons why many of our engineered floors are 14/15mm with a 3mm oak top layer. We rarely sell 20mm thick floors.
It’s is also the reason we think our new range of hardened oak floors is a game changer. If you are genuinely concerned about sustainability, then as long as your floor performs well (so no marks or scratches), you should use as little oak as possible, and the hardened wood floors have only 0.6mm of oak top layer, roughly 7 times less than our standard products.
Hardened Oak floors use extremely high quality finishes, which means you never have to worry about sanding; they come with lifetime residential warranties. Once fitted, you cannot tell the difference between this floor and a standard engineered product, making it the most sustainable wood floor on the market today. You can order samples of this flooring option through our website, but as with all our floors, we recommend viewing large sample boards.
So, if you’re looking for a sustainable flooring option, our advice is to have an honest conversation with your retailer. If they simply say, “We sell natural wood floors, and they’re great for the environment,” then they probably don’t understand that sustainability and flooring are not black and white. But if they talk through the challenges the flooring sector faces, and what they are doing to evolve to a more sustainable position, it’s likely they’ll give good advice.
If you’d like to read more about Kite’s sustainability position, we recently spoke to Living UK – Eco-flooring advice.
