Sustainability

Unilin revolutionized the flooring industry with the introduction of the Uniclic locking technology. This groundbreaking innovation – along with further innovations on locking technologies – not only facilitated the installation of a floor enormously, but it also enhanced the sustainable properties of flooring.

When installing a floor with a locking system there is no need to use any glue or nails, which already has a great impact on the ecological footprint of your flooring.

This is certainly true for all our basic and fold down locking systems, but also for grout imitation technology Unigrout. This technology offers the look and feel of a ceramic tile, and the grout imitation groove eliminates the need for grouting, which enables the tiles to be easily installed, quickly dismantled and reused.

Creating a sustainable society means we have to focus on prolonging the life cycle of products on the one hand and on limiting the use of non-renewable materials on the other hand. Our click connection contributes to these aspects in an innovative way.  

Thanks to our Uniclic for Furniture system, you can de-install and re-install your furniture very easily without any damage. This ensures the easy reuse of your furniture that will facilitate the transition from a single-use product economy to a reuse product economy, maximizing the lifespan of your furniture. 

And since the click connection is milled into the material/wood itself, you don't need any non-renewable raw materials such as plastic connections, metal screws or nails, glues,... This not only keeps the ecological footprint of your furniture to a minimum, but also maximizes the recycling possibilities at its end-of-life. 

The Unicoat technology protects your floors for leaks between joints, swelling of the edges and discolored edges of the wooden top layer. Unicoat protects against mishaps from leaks, but also from cleaning, elongating the durability of your floor.

Next to the mainstream resilient flooring category, Unilin Technologies also has PVC-free core technologies in its patent portfolio.

The P-SPC core technology is a new type of PVC free alternative to SPC. PET-SPC, or P-SPC as we call it, is made from recycled materials, such as recycled PET-bottle and hence is by itself perfectly recyclable, offering immense opportunities for the circular challenges in our industries. With an increased focus on sustainability, environmentally friendly components and recyclability P-SPC will contribute to a more durable resilient flooring market.

Unilin Technologies partnered up with the UK-based company IOBAC to manage and commercialize their magnetic flooring technology. Magnetic flooring offers a sustainable flooring from different angles.

First of all, the technologies that are developed to create a magnetic floor contain recycled components.

• The award-winning Ezy-Install Underlay is made from recycled rubber tires
• A high grab resin coating is manufactured from plant-based renewable castor oil
• Metal additives are made from recycled scrap iron
• The MagTabs can be re-used and recycled after use

Secondly, flooring that has been installed with the magnetic flooring solution becomes enormously easy to reuse or recycle. Thanks to this solution, there is no residue of either the tile or the floor after deinstallation. The metal floor remains uncontaminated and ready for installation of new tiles straight away, without the need for any preparation. Flooring that has been deinstalled, is perfectly safe to be reused or to be more easily recycled.

For the ceramics market, we developed an eco solvent-based ceramic ink together with our partner SICER (a world-renowned ink manufacturer).

It is a licensable technology for the production of new, innovative eco-solvent inks that significantly reduce harmful emissions and odor while retaining the same printing performance as the best traditional inks currently available.

Ecolor Ink is more environmentally friendly than other inks as it contains odorless components that significantly reduce harmful emissions: 60% less FORMALDEHYDE, 50% less ALDEHYDE, 50% less VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and 20% less COT (total organic carbon).

Digital printing offers a sustainable alternative for decor printing as it eliminates the need for gravure cylinders. The startup time is reduced and as the products can be made on demand, it eliminates waste of massproduction to cut costs.

The Digitouch technology package allows for printing directly onto the board, further eliminating the need of film or printed paper. The package also includes water-based inks that have a very low ink consumption.

The Uniprim primer for laminate and vinyl, not only prevents the ink from bleeding, it also controls the ink management so less ink is needed.