Environment

For ERFMI, environmental concerns mean three key areas:

Circular Economy

Central to our activities, we engage in research and support product development, and innovation opportunities, driven by a circular economy model.

ERFMI and its members actively support:

Circular Plastics Alliance 
Horizon 2020 Circular Flooring Project
Internal reprocessing and recycling schemes
Zero waste factory development
Collection programs for installation and post-consumer material waste
Industry owned Recyclate production plant

    • For PVC alone, ERFMI members recycled more than 130,000 tonnes in 2019.

Transparency

We encourage the growth of transparency within our membership, to further develop trust and responsibility between consumers and manufacturers.
We promote the development of Environmental Product Declarations, or EPD. These show a products environmental footprint and provides safety information.

Use our EPD calculator for a full comparison of products.

We promote the use of explanatory symbols associated with our product standards.

(CEN EN 15398:2020)

Social responsibility

Our pledge

Responsibility for the environment

The impact of our values, principles and processes on society and the environment are important to ERFMI, its members and their employees. We therefore fully subscribe to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. These represent how we and our members aim to conduct ourselves in business.

Compliance

  • We comply with laws, rules and regulations in our markets, including all trade compliance laws and regulations relevant to ERFMI and its members.
  • We observe rules of fair competition, anti-trust laws and avoid engaging in behaviour that may violate these rules.

Business

  • We maintain a safe and healthy work environment and are committed to eliminating work-related injuries and illnesses.
  • We are committed to engaging in fair and vigorous competition, knowing and respecting all antitrust and competition laws and regulations globally.
  • We avoid conflicts of interest and are expected to avoid situations where personal interests conflict, or appear to conflict, with those of the company. This includes any activity that may cause others to doubt our fairness or interferes with our ability to perform our job objectively.
  • ERFMI members follow quality management principles and use Quality Management System ISO 9001.

Environment and Health

  • Our members are committed to using REACH compliant raw materials. These European regulations are designed to improve the protection of human health and the environment from the risks that can be posed by chemicals.
  • Our members use responsible product labelling, where declarations of performance are available from each member, and all products are labelled with a CE mark according to EN 14041.
  • ERFMI members manage their businesses under the Environmental Management system ISO 14001.
  • ERFMI provides Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) for resilient floor products. Providing transparency to the public regarding the environmental impacts of building products, these independently verified life cycle assessments demonstrate the environmental impact of a building product, conducted under ISO 14025 and EN 15804 standards.

People

  • We are fully in compliance with the standards of the International Labor Organization (ILO).
  • We disapprove of child labour and all forms of forced or involuntary labour.
  • We recognise and respect all labour and employment laws and do not tolerate any form of discrimination or harassment on the grounds of gender, race, age, ethnicity, religion, worldview, disability or sexual orientation.

Society

  • ERFMI and its members are part of society and therefore have a strong sense of responsibility to the community and the environment, not limited to the workplace.
  • We strive to support social, environmental, educational or charitable projects and initiatives.

Note: Unless stated otherwise, the term ‘We’ represents ERFMI, its members and their employees.