Circular Building Solutions Ltd (CBS), specialists in flooring designed for disassembly, has announced a new collaboration with built environment reuse specialist, Envirocycle London Ltd to promote flooring reuse.
Both companies are members of the UK Sustainable Flooring Alliance (UKSFA) and the Alliance for Sustainable Building Products (ASBP), reflecting a shared commitment to practical, measurable circularity.
By promoting the importance of installation methods in enabling large-scale flooring reuse, the companies are demonstrating how collaboration across specification, installation and recovery can unlock the full value of flooring materials
Designing for Next Life
Each year, more than 400,000 tonnes of carpet waste is sent to landfill in the UK. With limited viable recycling technologies and landfill capacity under increasing pressure, the need to prioritise reuse over disposal has never been more urgent.
While energy-from-waste (EFW) remains one route for disposal, incineration carries both financial and environmental costs – particularly given the heavy, robust nature of carpet tile backings.
With commercial carpet tiles often replaced long before the end of their life, reuse is often the most cost-effective and carbon-efficient solution. However, this is only made possible if carpet tiles can be uplifted intact.
Traditional wet adhesives frequently contaminate tiles and damage subfloors, making recovery difficult and reducing the percentage of material suitable for reuse. Flooring designed for disassembly, installed using reversible, adhesive-free fixing systems, protects both the tile and the sub-floor, ensuring products can be cleanly removed and assessed for a second life.
Circular Building Solutions manufactures and markets a range of reversible, detachable fixing systems designed to securely install floor coverings without permanent adhesives.
The system is used and/or approved by 15 major flooring manufacturers including Shaw Contract, Ege Carpets and Desso, and allows for fast, simple installation and damage-free removal.
Flooring can be uplifted cleanly and subfloors remain protected, dramatically improving reuse potential and saving on the embodied carbon associated with new materials.
The range includes IOBAC MagTabs® for use on magnetically receptive sub-floors such as raised access flooring and IOBAC Tab-It®, CBS 1D-Tab™ and CBS LE-Tab™ for use on most other common sub-floors including plywood, concrete and as an overlay system over existing flooring.
Recovery and Redistribution in Action
Operating a fast and efficient collection and uplift service across London, Surrey and the Home Counties, Envirocycle work hand-in-hand with contractors and commercial clients to ensure viable carpet tiles are recovered for reuse rather than discarded.
Since launching in 2017, the company has recovered and reused over 1 million carpet tiles through its reuse programme. With carpet tiles weighing on average 4.4kg per square metre, this represents hundreds of tonnes of material diverted from landfill.
Following uplift, tiles are graded and redistributed to charities, schools, businesses, contractors and members of the public, extending product life while providing affordable flooring solutions to new users.
Installation as a Circular Enabler
Ian Spreadbrough, Co-founder and Director at Circular Building Solutions Ltd, commented:
“Reuse sits at the top of the waste hierarchy, yet too often it is prevented by installation decisions made years earlier. Designing flooring for disassembly ensures that when refurbishment comes, valuable materials can be recovered rather than written off.”
Company Director, Tony Spreckley for Envirocycle London added:
“Commercial carpet tiles are frequently replaced long before the end of their technical life. By working with reversible fixing solutions from Circular Building Solutions, we can all significantly increase the proportion of tiles suitable for reuse and reduce the volume going to landfill.”
Closing the Flooring Loop
As businesses, local authorities and property owners seek alternatives to landfill, the partnership between Circular Building Solutions and Envirocycle London highlights a clear message: reuse should be designed in from the start of a project.
By aligning installation strategy with recovery and redistribution services, the two organisations are helping to retain carpet tiles as a recoverable asset, keeping materials in circulation and moving the sector decisively up the waste hierarchy.
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