CFA Guide to Sustainability 2025–2026 Shows Collaboration Is Key

The CFA Guide to Sustainability 2025–2026, the flooring industry’s definitive source for the latest information about sustainability, comes out with the next issue of Contract Flooring Journal in June. This industry-leading resource boasts a wide variety of guidance and resources for the whole contract flooring sector. Echoing the CFA’s Zero Avoidable Waste report from 2021, the guide’s focus this year on collaboration demonstrates the industry’s need to coordinate to deliver circular solutions. 

A leading example of the progress that can be made through a collaborative approach to sustainability is the CISUFLO project, an international project launched in June 2021 and ending this June, with the aim to work on new technologies and products to improve materials’ recovery and drive the flooring sector in Europe towards a circular economy. The CFA Guide to Sustainability includes brand new interviews with Ine De Vilder, research scientist at Centexbel, and project coordinator Guy Buyle; Robbert Wapstra, managing director of Edel Carpets; and Shaun Wadsworth, CFA and FITA training manager.

Throughout the guide, conversations with CFA members and across the flooring sector reinforce the need for collaborative action. This message underlies CFA president Alan McEwan’s article, where he discusses the need to work together to achieve sustainability goals, and the importance of being proactive when it comes to making changes. It is also championed by the CFA’s expanding partnership with the United Kingdom Sustainability Flooring Alliance (UKSFA), formerly Carpet Recycling UK. 

As the industry shifts, so must the systems and training delivered to support environmentally friendly products. In his article, Shaun Wadsworth elaborates on what sustainability holds for the future of flooring installation training. Highlighted recycling schemes and key resources such as Recofloor’s Drop-off Points, the UKSFA directory and the Construction Product Association’s Sustainability Briefing Documents also provide the tools to begin taking action.

The CFA Guide to Sustainability has significantly increased its value for the specification and procurement markets as a critical resource for finding sustainable product information by including sustainability webinars from NBS to advise the construction industry on how to contribute to a greener future plus case studies that demonstrate sustainability in action. These resources join the Buyer’s Guide, a key element of the guide which is annually updated to spotlight the products and services at the forefront of sustainable innovation in the flooring industry.

All this joins insights into how the tiling sector, steered by The Tile Association (TTA), approaches sustainability in its own lane. The guide discusses the activity of TTA’s Sustainability Working Group, which carries out TTA’s vision to “take a leading role in achieving sustainability in the tiling sector, helping our members and the wider industry play its part in achieving Net Zero by 2050”.