Floors made of recycled plastic are the perfect addition to an engineering company’s £15 million refit, as the firm bids to go greener.
Doncaster-based Polypipe, one of Europe's largest and most innovative manufacturers of piping, underfloor heating and energy-efficient ventilation, is undergoing one of the largest single investments in its 40-year history. The company, which is part of the Genuit Group, an expanded collaboration of businesses which serve the construction industry by providing sustainable water, climate and ventilation management solutions, aims to use 62 per cent of its tonnage from recycled plastics by 2025.
As part of the refurbishment at its Edlington site, more than £300,000 has been invested in new flooring in its two production halls - home to plastic injection moulding machinery. Using innovative Abaplas technology from award-winning Leicestershire-based resin flooring company, Abacus Flooring Solutions 33,000 square foot of flooring has been installed, followed by a top-coat resin.
The same flooring systems - used from recycled plastics - have been installed at venues including Wembley stadium and JCB’s headquarters.
As part of the flooring installation, the team at Abacus Flooring Solutions used 2800kgs of resin coating, 1275kgs of recycled plastic and two eight yard skips of empty resin containers were recycled.
Darren Fox, head of engineering at Polypipe, said: “We have got a vision to create a world-class plastic injection moulding facility and the product and service that Abacus Flooring Solutions offered us aligned perfectly with that vision."
“We are really interested in the use of recycled plastic in our flooring because it aligns perfectly with our sustainability goals and targets.”
The majority of the flooring is a serviceable anti-slip area in grey, with demarcation for walkways and pedestrian crossings to keep vehicles and pedestrians safe.
Darren added that the first phase of the flooring installation, in production hall one, involved the complete refurbishment of an older building, while phase two, in hall two, saw Abacus workers laying flooring around production, so Polypipe productivity never ceased.
He added: “It’s really great to show visitors and investors around the facility and actually tell them that they are walking on recycled plastic. It’s been an absolutely fantastic partnership between us and Abacus Flooring Solutions.”
Nick Megson, Managing Director of Abacus Flooring Solutions, founded the firm in 2020 after more than 30 years in the resin flooring industry.
He said: “We are delighted to have been able to have not only provided a fantastic product to a much-valued customer as part of their refurbishment, but also to have provided a product that runs parallel to their sustainability goals. By re-using plastic, we are able to save thousands of tonnes of plastic from going to landfill, which is extremely satisfying.”
To find out more about Abacus Flooring Solutions, please visit their website here
