Old PVC floor coverings may contain specific plasticisers that are no longer used today and have now been replaced by safer alternatives in the EU. The recycling of such PVC flooring requires a technically demanding separation of these plasticisers. The new EU project CIRCULAR FLOORING is tackling this challenge. The aim is to gently recycle old PVC flooring by dissolving and removing the critical additives, thus recovering virgin PVC in granulate form for use in new flooring so that it complies with EU legislation and fulfils consumer needs in terms of the circular economy.
CIRCULAR FLOORING was launched at the beginning of June 2019 and will receive around 5.4 million euros in funding from Horizon 2020, the European Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, until May 2023. Eleven companies and research institutions from five European countries are participating in the project. The project is being coordinated by the Fraunhofer Institute IVV in Freising. Among the supporters are the two AGPU member companies Vinnolit and Chemson as well as the PVC Flooring Recycling Working Group (AgPR).
