Circular flooring in Europe

Flooring plays a vital role in the design and functionality of public buildings and everyday spaces. While practicality and durability are essential, flooring also contributes significantly to a space’s aesthetic appeal—enhancing the experience of visitors and workers alike. When installed properly, many flooring products can provide both functionality and style over a long lifespan.

The CISUFLO (Circular Sustainable Floorings) project was initiated to drive innovation in the flooring industry by developing circular products and promoting a circular economy across the entire value chain. The project implemented six pilot programs focused on manufacturing, sorting, separation, and recycling of flooring materials, alongside scaling up novel technologies. These pilots addressed three main flooring types: carpets, resilient flooring, and wood laminates.

CISUFLO also fostered cross-sector collaboration and provided valuable insights to policymakers for standardization and regulation.

Its overarching aim was to reduce the environmental footprint of the EU flooring sector by establishing a systemic framework for sustainable, circular flooring—taking into account technical feasibility and socio-economic factors.

• Develop concepts, guidelines, and prototypes for circular floor coverings (carpet, wood laminate, and resilient flooring).
• Create and launch a centralized product information system (ePRODIS) accessible to all stakeholders.
• Analyze value chains and raw material flows.
• Implement and assess six technological pilots.
• Evaluate the sustainability of new materials, technologies, and products.
• Design circular business models and a roadmap for transformation.
• Promote cross-sector collaboration with related industries and projects.
• Raise awareness of CISUFLO’s outcomes within and beyond the flooring sector.

The CISUFLO project delivered a wide range of outcomes across technical, operational, and strategic dimensions:

Design and Material Innovation

• Circularity concepts were developed for various flooring types: Circular Textiles (cTextile), Circular Vinyl (cVinyl), Circular Laminate (cLaminate), and bioflooring. These addressed materials, manufacturing, tagging, and installation. The resulting guidelines are publicly accessible.
• A comprehensive analysis of current and future waste streams and available recycling technologies was conducted.

ePRODIS Platform

• ePRODIS, a web-based modular tool, was created to offer product data to manufacturers, installers, recyclers, and consumers. Available at www.ePRODIS.eu, it is managed by EUFCA and will be updated in 2026 to align with CEN/TC 143 standards.

Socio-Economic and Business Model Development

• Material flows and operational environments were mapped and used to build a roadmap for circular business models. Collection systems, logistics, recycling options, and customer engagement were all explored.
• A handbook for circular business models and a Transition Support Tool to guide industry stakeholders were developed and made publicly available.

Industrial Uptake

CISUFLO dedicated a work package to ensure the uptake of innovations. This included:

• Mapping waste volumes and collection schemes.
• Monitoring standardization and certification efforts.
• Launching the Transition Support Tool to assist with the adoption of circular practices.
• Establishing a sectoral focus group to promote engagement and gather feedback.

Sustainability Assessments

Comprehensive assessments were conducted:

• Life Cycle Analysis (LCA)
• Techno-economic Assessment (TEA)
• Social Life Cycle Analysis (s-LCA)
• Circularity evaluations
• Scenario modelling

These assessments demonstrated the environmental and economic benefits of flooring circularity.

Pilot 1 – Manufacturing Circular Flooring

• cLaminate: Demonstrated production using 100% recycled wood fibers in HDF.
• cTextile: Developed monomaterial PA6 carpets via fusion bonding and powder scattering (85% PA6 content).
• cVinyl: Cushion vinyl allowed only 10% rPVC, but LVT (via extrusion) allowed for 100% substitution with rPVC.
• Bioflooring: Explored use of various waste streams for new bio-based flooring materials.

Pilot 2 – Identification and Sorting

• Developed a sorting line using NIR spectroscopy, RFID, and QR codes, with vacuum grippers for material separation. Demonstrated feasibility of automated sorting technologies.

Pilot 3 – PolySep Technology Evaluation

• Solvent-based delamination was not effective for carpets or vinyl due to blockage and incomplete separation of components.

Pilot 4 – Laminate Recycling via Steam Explosion

• Successfully converted end-of-life laminate to reclaimed wood fibers at over 90% efficiency and 1 ton/hour throughput. Now being scaled to industrial levels (10 tons/hour) by Unilin under the Osiris technology label. Industrial operations are set to begin in September 2025.

Pilot 5 – Mechanical Recycling of Vinyl

• Demonstrated industrial-scale recycling of LVT and cushion vinyl.
• Cushion vinyl with 5% rPVC and LVT with 100% rPVC were successfully produced.
• Cross-sector use of rPVC between flooring and window profile sectors was also validated.

Pilot 6 – Monomaterial Carpet Circularity

• Produced and tested 85% PA6 monomaterial carpet using recycled PA6 (Econyl).
• clean removal was demonstrated after 5 months use in a meeting room, after which a successful chemical recycling back to caprolactam has been achieved.
• Validated separation layer concepts triggered by heat and solvents.