• News • February 10th, 2023
At Reflex, we have over twenty years in the sports floor industry and during that time we’ve created a business that’s aligned with our values - providing the best quality flooring for performance in the most environmentally friendly way possible. As a family-run business, we take pride in doing things the right way and have taken steps to ensure that we’re leading the industry.
These days, there are many different materials used for sports hall flooring. Years ago they were all made from hardwood, but as technology progressed, new synthetic materials like vinyl and polyurethane evolved. There are now myriad options that combine these materials along with other materials like plywood to create floors that give the ultimate performance for different sports uses.
But while these synthetic materials have transformed the way sports are played, they’re not without issues. The biggest problem is how they’re produced - conventional synthetic materials typically use raw materials derived from fossil fuels (oil, coal and natural gas) through chemical processes. Timber is a renewable source, but there’s variability in how ethically it’s produced.
Luckily, it is possible to be kind to the environment and still have top-quality sports floor performance.
In a world that’s in the midst of a climate disaster that’s having a serious impact on the lives of people everywhere, the need to meet the government's zero carbon target has never been more important. We're committed to making our business as ethical as possible across our production chain and to helping protect the planet for future generations. We’ve been taking big steps to do things differently.
At Reflex, all of the products that we use are ethically sourced and we have a complete chain of custody over our suppliers' sustainability too. While many other floor installers say that they are operating in a sustainable way, many just use their suppliers’ credentials.
We’ve gone a step further.
Back in 2009 we made a clear commitment to our ethical beliefs and signed ourselves up to be audited annually to ensure that we can stand over our sustainable credentials. We’re proud to be the only sports flooring installers in the UK who have FSC® (Forestry Stewardship Council) & PEFC™ Chain of Custody Certification. You can read more about it on the Soil Association website.
Maintaining this certification means that we can provide our customers with timber-based products that are Chain of Custody Certified. This means that everyone in the supply chain must have annual audits - from the people working in the forest right through to ourselves. This means that every piece of timber we use comes from sources that have been responsibly managed.
As mentioned above, synthetic surfaces are made using fossil fuels. We make sure that our materials are as environmentally friendly as possible. Our shock pads and sprung elements are manufactured from recycled rubber car and truck tyres, while our polyurethanes are free from plasticisers and use the latest water-based coating technologies.
In terms of waste, we keep it minimal due to our precise material calculation on all projects. Any offcuts are sent to specialist recycling companies.
We’re also proud that by responsibly sourcing synthetic materials from recycled sources rather than new production, we’ve saved thousands of tyres from landfill.
If you want to avoid adding to the landfill waste that will burden future generations and the carbon-emissions from fossil fuels, choose a sports floor that has excellent credentials for both sustainability and quality.
Contact us for a free, no-obligation consultation about our services.
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