Tarkett supports eco-innovation from processes to products. Tarkett also supports the efforts of others who reuse and recycle. To recognize the individuals who fully utilize their ReStart Recycling and Reclamation Program, Tarkett is honoring them with a ReStart Award.

The ReStart Award will be presented to the Architect, Designer, Building Owner, Contractor/Installer, and/or Distributor whose project(s) have successfully diverted flooring from landfills using the ReStart Program.  Entries will fall into one of two categories and the winners will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Greenbuild 2013 for an official award presentation. 

As a believer in sustainability and a focus on Cradle to Cradle philosophy, Tarkett’s ReStart Recycling and Reclamation Program allows commercial flooring job scrap (rubber, vinyl and linoleum tile and sheet, wall base, floor finishing accessories and tread-cuttings) and post-consumer VCT to be collected and returned to Tarkett to be repurposed or recycled for other products or uses.

The two award categories are Dedication to Continuous Recycling and Largest Volume of Recycled Product.  The Dedication to Continuous Recycling award will be given to the individual with the largest number of projects that recycled flooring through the ReStart program over the previous 12 months.  The Largest Volume of Recycled Product will be awarded to the one individual project that sends the most square-footage of flooring through the ReStart program.  This award may span more than 12 months due to the size of the project.  

Since its inception, the ReStart program has recycled over 900 million pounds of material both internally and externally including 55 million pounds of post-consumer material and diverted it from landfills. In addition to job scrap, raw-material excess, scrap and off-spec product is captured and reused in the manufacturing process or repurposed for other uses.

How to Participate

Tarkett’s raw-material excess, scrap and off-spec product is currently captured and reused in the manufacturing process or repurposed for other uses.  Now, using that same capability, Tarkett can reuse or repurpose uninstalled job site remnants. The technology allows it to reuse, or redistribute for other use, nearly all of its pre-consumer flooring, wall base, accessories and tread scrap.  And installed VCT can be recycled through the ReStart program as well. 

Tarkett makes it easy to recycle:

• The ReStart Specifications are written into the job specs for the end user
• The contractor contacts Tarkett for a Return Authorization Number [RA#]
• Tarkett sends an RA# and a ReStart Return Kit including instructions, large bags and banding materials for palletizing
• The contractor packages leftover Tarkett materials and sends them back to Tarkett

All end users and contractors who return materials under the program guidelines will be given a ReStart Certificate from Tarkett stating how much was sent back, along with other appropriate information. 

Projects will be tracked through the Return Authorization process and will be the process for determining winners.  Winners will be announced in August, 2013 and the award presentation will take place in November at Greenbuild 2013, in Philadelphia, PA.

“Tarkett has taken a leadership role in protecting the environment. The company began recycling product more than 50 years ago and was the first resilient flooring manufacturer to reclaim samples. We continue that commitment today as we develop new ways to become more environmentally responsible, whether through product development or strategic programs such as this one,” said Diane Martel, Environmental Planning and Strategy for Tarkett North America, “We believe that sustainability extends beyond the products that are delivered to the market and into manufacturing and company labor practices, community impact, human rights and end of use product responsibility.”  

Tarkett’s commercial brand, Johnsonite, is part of a flooring, accessory, wall base and stairwell system that balances impact across people, the environment and the bottom line. Our goals include developing solutions that use better materials, practice resource stewardship and create people-friendly spaces while maximizing reuse and recycled content.

For more information about Johnsonite products and their many green certifications and sustainable initiatives, visit www.johnsonite.com or www.johnsoniteenvironment.com.