CFA Guide to Sustainability 2025–2026 Out Now

Demonstrating the drive for sustainability through collaboration, CFA CEO Richard Catt introduces the CFA Guide to Sustainability 2025–2026

The sustainability agenda is moving at pace, and in our sector, the conversation has shifted decisively from why we need to act, to how we achieve it. It’s in that spirit that I’m pleased to introduce the latest edition of the CFA’s Guide to Sustainability, a resource designed not just to inform, but to drive practical change across the flooring industry.

This year’s guide lands at a pivotal time. A major milestone for the sector was reached in March 2025 with the conclusion of the CISUFLO (CIrcular SUstainable FLOoring) project, a four-year, European-funded initiative aiming to reduce the environmental impact of flooring materials throughout their lifecycle. The CFA and our training arm, FITA, were proud to play a part in this important work, which covered everything from circular business models to the development of traceability systems and pilot projects for new sustainable practices. The project confirmed what many of us already suspected: the flooring industry cannot tackle the sustainability challenge in isolation. It requires collaboration, not just within supply chains, but across them.

That’s a key theme running through this year’s guide. Split into two comprehensive sections, thought leadership at the front and an extensive product library at the back, the guide offers a rich mix of insights, guidance, and practical solutions. Thanks to excellent engagement from manufacturers, contractors, and suppliers alike, both sections are particularly strong this year. The thought leadership articles explore the evolving landscape of sustainability in flooring, while the product directory provides valuable information for those specifying, designing, and delivering projects today.

The CFA is actively promoting the guide to the entire CFJ readership, which includes flooring contractors, main contractors, shopfitters, specifiers, and designers, ensuring that the message and resources reach as wide an audience as possible. Additionally, through our own Floorscape platform, we’re working to extend its reach further still.

Our work on the CISUFLO project and through the guide has reinforced some essential priorities for the flooring industry as we move toward a lower-carbon, circular future. In particular, we need to focus on:

• Designing products with recyclability in mind.
• Developing reliable systems for identifying flooring products after installation.
• Creating a digital product passport to track material data and lifecycle information.
• Improving logistics for the collection, take-back, and recycling of materials.
• And expanding national recycling capabilities to meet future demand.
  

Importantly, while these priorities involve technical innovation, they are also about industry-wide alignment. CFA’s longstanding success in coordinating technical standards across the flooring sector demonstrates that collaboration need not come at the expense of innovation or healthy commercial competition. It’s a principle we should now apply to sustainability.

I’ve recently had the privilege of joining the board of the UK Sustainable Flooring Alliance (UKSFA) as a non-executive director, a timely move given the CFA’s increasing involvement in sustainability conversations at both national and European levels. The Alliance’s mission to support sustainable practices in flooring aligns closely with the CFA’s own agenda and offers another valuable route for cross-industry collaboration.

On April 25th, I was also pleased to speak at the Recofloor Awards, celebrating 15 years of vinyl flooring recycling and discussing how we can further develop practical, scalable solutions for the future. Events like these demonstrate the strength of the collective will within the industry and the growing appetite for sharing ideas and best practices. But they also highlight that our collective challenge is no longer one of awareness, it’s one of coordination.

Some existing initiatives already make a meaningful contribution to sustainability in flooring, but the key question is whether they support the broader net-zero strategy and, crucially, whether they help us avoid government-imposed regulation. The upcoming Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme is a clear indicator of the direction of travel, and it underlines the risk of not acting decisively as an industry.

Ultimately, achieving a truly circular flooring economy is a bold ambition. Yet the work showcased in the CFA’s Guide to Sustainability, through the CISUFLO project, within UKSFA and throughout the industry demonstrates that practical progress is possible and happening now. Collaboration remains the key, and the CFA’s role is to help lead and coordinate those efforts, supporting our members and the wider industry in turning ambition into action.

If you’re not yet involved in these conversations, now’s the time. Start by reading the guide. Follow the link and join the journey toward a sustainable flooring future.

The CFA is a leading trade association representing the flooring industry. If you would like further information on events or an application pack or further information on the benefits of membership, please contact the CFA offices on 0115 941 1126, email info@cfa.org.uk or apply online at www.cfa.org.uk.