Tarkett publishes its 2021 social and environmental responsibility report

Fully audited by an independent third party - KPMG -, this report describes the company's significant performance in terms of sustainable development and its strong ambition, including new climate objectives.

Tarkett recently defined its ambitious Climate 2030 roadmap across its entire value chain^[1], aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30%. This covers emissions from the Group's activities (Scope 1) and its purchased energy (Scope 2) – as well as those from the rest of its value chain, from suppliers to end customers (Scope 3).

“Over the past two years, we have reduced our greenhouse gas emissions^[2] by 27%. We now want to go further by implementing this ambitious climate roadmap. We are building more and more partnerships in the circular economy and climate action, through our committed choices for people and the planet. Together with our ecosystem, we are actively contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and it is essential that we embark on this adventure with our customers”, explains Fabrice Barthélemy, Chairman of the Management Board of Tarkett.

Beyond its ambition to be a key player in the circular economy, the Group also emphasizes the use of quality materials, contributing to the health and well-being of people. As part of its social responsibility, Tarkett also protects and develops its teams, creates a culture of diversity and inclusion while supporting its local communities.

Tarkett has made significant progress with its take-back and recycling program Tarkett has made significant progress with ReStart®, its collection and recycling program, turning end-of-use flooring and recycled materials into new flooring of ground. This reduces waste and carbon footprint, decreasing the need for virgin raw materials while avoiding landfill and incineration.

Over the past 11 years, the company has collected the equivalent of 11 Eiffel Towers (112 tons) of flooring as part of its ReStart® program in Europe, North America and Brazil, in eight centers of recycling.

Solid progress in ReStart® has been made at the unique carpet recycling center in Waalwijk, the Netherlands, the vinyl recycling center in Ronneby, Sweden and the linoleum recycling center in Narni, Italy. Together, these recycling centers have increased their ReStart® collection by 69% compared to 2019. Complementing the progress made with ReStart®, 15% of raw materials (147 tons per year) are recycled materials in 000, the objective being to reach 2021% in 30.

Tarkett reduced its carbon footprint

• Twelve production sites in ten countries are supplied with 100% renewable electricity and 38% of total energy consumption comes from renewable energies.
• Greenhouse gas emissions from purchased electricity, steam consumption and fuel combustion at Tarkett's 34 production sites in 19 countries have been reduced by 44% compared to 2010, which corresponds to the annual greenhouse gas emissions of 21 European inhabitants.^[3]
• Fossil fuel heating systems have been replaced by electric or biomass systems. For example, the Jacareí plant (Brazil) changed the energy source of its hot press from natural gas to electricity, thus reducing the associated greenhouse gas emissions. Jacareí now sources 100% renewable electricity from hydroelectric, solar and wind sources.

Recent examples illustrating our CSR performance

• In Sweden and Belgium, we have worked with IKEA to collect and recycle used floor coverings from their stores in Stockholm (Sweden) and Arlon (Belgium). More than 14 m500 of materials were collected and then processed at our recycling site in Ronneby (Sweden).
• Tarkett is the only carpet manufacturer in Europe able to fully recycle its commercial carpet tiles, thanks to its unique carpet recycling center in Waalwijk (the Netherlands) and in close collaboration with its supplier Aquafil. Recycling 1 m² of EcoBase® carpet tile flooring after use saves 10 kgCO2e.
• In Europe, we are rolling out renewable infill layers for use in artificial turf. PureMix infill, which mixes crushed olive pits with existing cork infill, has been deployed at the football pitch of the municipality of The Hague (Netherlands). In Saint-Ouen (France), during the renovation of the artificial turf of the training ground of the Red Star football school, recycled and renewable materials were used. An infill consisting of sand recovered from an old artificial turf was used with PureSelect crushed olive pits.
• In Europe, our ProMax HydroFlex sports infill solution – made in Germany – is made from 30% recycled polyethylene from end-of-use artificial turf pitches.
• In the United States, we have incorporated post-use recycled PVB into our ethos® Modular with Omnicoat Technology™, a high-quality resilient flooring solution made from healthy and safe materials, including 33% post-recycled PVB. -consumption. From 2004 to 2021, we reused 37 tons of PVB films from 000 million windshields.
• As part of our Tarkett Cares program and in order to support local communities, we have involved our teams in more than 700 solidarity initiatives, with 3 days of volunteering by our employees and more than one million euros in product donations (300-2017).

¹ Compared to 2019, scope 1, 2 and 3

² Greenhouse gas emissions compared to 2019, Scope 1 & 2

³ EuroStat reported in 2021 that the total carbon footprint of the EU-27 was equal to 6,7 tonnes of CO2 per person in 2019. Absolute GHG emissions (scope 1 and 2) from Tarkett's production sites in 2021 represent 177 tons of CO500e, which corresponds to a reduction of more than 2 tons of CO140e compared to 000.