A Contractor’s View on Sustainability – Westcotes Flooring

For Westcotes Flooring Company Ltd, taking a leading approach to sustainability in its recycling services and fleet is a critical effort, says Carl Harper, managing director and immediate Past President of CFA.

Westcotes Flooring carefully considers sustainability across its operations, from product sourcing to waste management. This includes purchasing ‘best practice’ products that eliminate plastic packaging wherever possible and floorcovering material is recycled through recovery schemes. Since joining the Recofloor Vinyl Take-Back Scheme, Westcotes Flooring has recycled large volumes of vinyl flooring this year, saving 5.24 tonnes of CO₂. Westcotes Flooring also won Highly Commended for Project of the Year and achieved a Bronze Award for waste collection at Recofloor Awards 2025.

In a project at Colchester Hospital, Westcotes Flooring diverted 86.18m³ using the Proplex Closed Loop Remanufacturing scheme, resulting in an atmospheric carbon saving (WtE) of 57 CO₂ or the equivalent of 2,846 trees, as well as recovered 2.50 tonnes of material using the Recofloor Vinyl Take-Back Scheme, saving a further 2.93 tonnes of CO₂. In addition, Westcotes Flooring uses the Forbo Back to the Floor programme and the F. Ball Recycling Scheme, as well as donating offcuts to FITA for it to use for training purposes, helping to support the sector’s training efforts. 

Furthering its circular approach to floor installation, Westcotes Flooring is proud to use adhesive-free magnetic tab technology where possible for its carpet tile installations which covers only 4% of the floor, enabling quick and clean uplift of flooring with no adhesive contamination to either the floorcovering or subfloor. This means that the flooring can be either recycled or reused.

Reducing transport emissions has been a key focus for Westcotes Flooring, helping to set the contractor apart. Westcotes Flooring demonstrates it has a strong commitment to sustainability within its fleet operations. The company is switching to hybrid and electric vehicles each time a new vehicle is required and has installed 5 charging ports across its 2 offices. Plus, it supports both car and van sharing wherever possible within the business. Westcotes Flooring takes notice of companies also working to develop environmentally friendly fleets, such as Instarmac’s growing use of CNG (compressed natural gas) vehicles.

Despite this progress, Westcotes Flooring notes that there are continued challenges with getting main contractors to buy into sustainability. Though it is proactive in advocating for environmentally friendly decisions and offering sustainability advice, Westcotes Flooring frequently experiences pushbacks based on both cost and the extra effort required to implement the schemes. There can also be difficulties with the contamination of waste, where other contractors are putting rubbish into its recycling bags. 

Yet, these problems seem to be less frequent among tier 1 contractors on larger projects. For instance where they have long-term maintenance contracts on the building, such as 20 years, main contractors are also more likely to make investments for installing flooring that is easier to maintain, lift and recycle, as they will directly see the benefit. As for its own installers, Westcotes Flooring ensures they know to minimise waste and make proper use of recycling bags. Rising trends, such as interlocking loose-lay tiles, adhesive free LVT and vinyl and many other products, continue to provide new methods and opportunities for Westcotes Flooring and other contractors to deliver sustainability principles in flooring projects.

www.westcotesflooring.co.uk