How it is made

How it is made, our footprint

From how we run our factories to how we choose our ingredients, the way we make our floors is a big part of how we meet our mission to create better environments.

We use Life Cycle Assessment, an open and transparent methodology, to measure our products’ complete environmental performance. We’re committed to Green Design principles: to increasing efficiency, reducing the use of virgin raw materials and always searching for the most environmentally appropriate solution.

We reduce, reuse, recycle and renew. For example, we collect installation off-cuts and help repurpose end-of-life waste into new products. We make our flooring in clean, efficient factories, powered by 100% renewable electricity.

Life Cycle Assessment

Forbo uses Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) as the independent methodology of measuring our impact on the environment.

Standardized within ISO 14040, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is defined as a compilation and evaluation of the inputs and outputs and the potential environmental impacts of a product system throughout its life cycle, a cradle-to-grave-approach.

Measurement against the specific impact categories focuses on efforts for reduction; it is the basis for Forbo's green development and our overall performance.

The LCA is calculated for 1m2 installed floor covering from cradle to installation. We base our LCA calculation on the weighted mass of all the products we produce and also include the energy consumption of all our offices and warehouse worldwide.

"Our target is to continuously minimize the environmental impact of Forbo Flooring Systems as measured by the weighted categories in our independently verified Life Cycle Assessment measurement system by 25% before the end of 2015 (cf2009)"

Environmental Product Declarations (EPD's)

Forbo Flooring Systems has published Environmental Product Declarations for our individual floor covering products. An EPD presents quantified environmental data for a product, based on information from a life cycle assessment (LCA). An EPD is a report verified by the European Resilient Flooring Manufacturers Institute (ERFMI) that summarises and explains the data generated from an LCA.

All EPD’s can be found on the UL Environment Sustainable Products Database

To find out more about ERFMI or to create your own EPD please visit the ERFMI website.

Green design principles

We conscientiously apply green design principle to all our products and processes. In order to live up to our promise to reduce our environmental footprint by 25% in 2015, all our collections are engineered and designed to commit to this goal.

With every new product we want to:

● Increase efficiency in the use of resources
● Minimize damage or pollution from the chosen material
● Reduce to a minimum any longterm harm caused using the product
● Ensure that the planned life is appropriate in environmental terms

Reduce, Renewable, Reuse, Recycle

The key to our success in implementing our environmental policies lies in the application of our "4 R's" : Reduce, Renewable, Reuse, Recycle. A number of initiatives have been rolled out across the business, and it is our commitment to continuing and improving ourselves to achieve our environmental aims.

Reduce: energy, landfill, raw material consumption
Renewable: electricity, natural & sustainable raw materials
Reuse: production waste across all sites
Recycle: product and sampling take back schemes

Forbo way to win

Forbo's internal awareness programme. In 2010 we rolled out our internal awareness programme - The Forbo Way to Win. We used this to introduce our sustainability policy and strengthen our employee's engagement by providing a platform for them to contribute to our efforts in reducing energy consumption, the use of raw materials and waste. We also asked them to look for ways of increasing recycling.

Realized examples of Forbo Way To Win

The programme generated over 1700 ideas, resulting in 600 possible projects, some of which have already been successfully implemented.

● Rewinding yarn ends and reuse in producing Tessera carpet tiles.
● Reduce the need of water to produce steam the Flotex production.
● Use different pre-cut lengths of paper for the backing machine.
● Elimination of the cardboard cores in the jumbo rolls of Flotex.

Brochures

Environmental brochure
Read our full story in our environmental brochure
Sustainability report 2020
Download our latest sustainability report.
Annual report Health, Safety & the environment
Download here our annual report about health, safety & the environment.