Global commercial flooring manufacturer Forbo Flooring System and flooring technology experts IOBAC UK Ltd are collaborating to highlight the crucial role that adhesive-free installation can play in supporting circularity in the interiors sector.
With research indicating that the embodied carbon of buildings accounts for 11% of global annual emissions, the call for solutions that facilitate material reuse and waste reduction has never been stronger.
Recognising this importance, Forbo Flooring Systems have approved IOBAC MagTabs™ as an adhesive-free method of installing its high-quality commercial Allura Flex Luxury Vinyl Tile and Tessera carpet tile ranges.
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Angus Fotheringhame, General Manager, UK & Ireland, Forbo Flooring Systems explains: “As part of our mission to create better environments, we focus on advancing products and solutions whose life cycles comply with the circular economy model.
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Our Back to the Floor recycling program is an established installation waste take-back scheme, and Forbo is an active participant in the EU funded Circular Flooring Project investigating recycling methods for post-consumer vinyl waste.
“IOBAC MagTabs are the perfect complement to our Fast Fit adhesive-free product range. These adhesive-free methods enable the floor covering to be easily removable with no residue or contamination, making them ideal for reuse or “clean” recycling.”
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Hard to Shift, Easy to Lift
Magnetic on one side and dry-tack adhesive on the other, innovation award-winning MagTabs can be used to install a wide variety of floor coverings adhesive-free to metal raised access floors and IOBAC’s magnetically receptive range of underlays and resins.
2-Dimensional Hold: These smart little tabs not only hold flooring tiles vertically to the sub-floor, but also interlock them horizontally for unrivalled 2-dimensional hold.
Dual Grip technology: MT4+ MagTabs incorporate IOBAC’s patented Dual Grip technology which combines dry-tack adhesion with magnetism for phenomenal grab in the highest of footfall areas.
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Yet when the time comes to uplift flooring, the floor tiles can be removed cleanly and easily for reuse or recycling, with the sub-floor left contamination-free and ready for the next flooring installation straight away.
Excessive sub-floor remediation costs are eliminated.
Ian Spreadborough, Co-founder and Director of IOBAC concludes:
”The installation method sometimes gets missed in the conversation on flooring circularity, so we are very pleased to be collaborating with global leader Forbo Flooring Systems to offer a holistic solution.
Specifying Forbo flooring products with IOBAC MagTabs represents a sustainable choice, that is not only beneficial to the environment, but that also offers design agility and operational cost benefits.
We’re seeing a marked increase in specifiers choosing adhesive-free as the better way to install flooring as a result.”
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IOBAC has created an online “Adhesive-Free Flooring Specification Centre” designed to make specification easy for architects, designers and contractors. The resource contains whitepapers, case studies, technical data and a downloadable “Specifier’s Guide to Adhesive-free Flooring” CPD, all accessed at www.iobac.com/adhesive-free-flooring.
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Tomorrow’s Contract Floors – see article here
Contract Flooring Journal – see article here