Maintain to gain

Alan Lewin, business development director of ServiceMaster Clean, explains how regularly maintaining floor coverings and upholstery can help save you money

Figures from the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) estimate that 583,000 tonnes of flooring waste is produced each year, with the majority (71 per cent) being carpet. More than 90 per cent of this flooring waste ends up in landfill, with less than 1 per cent being recycled.

That's a shocking statistic and one we all should think about when considering refurbishment or updating the look of facilities. All too often carpeting, vinyl and other flooring is disposed of in favour of new coverings when it becomes prematurely tired. The technology for cleaning, protecting, sustaining and restoring floor coverings that were previously considered beyond repair, has improved dramatically.

Instead of tearing up damaged floor coverings and throwing upholstery out, thereby consuming new materials, ServiceMaster Clean works with organisations to carry out full restoration, saving materials from our landfills that could take hundreds of years to break down.

Rug repair Westfield Derby, one of the largest shopping centres in the UK, opened in 2007 with brand new flooring and furnishings throughout, all designed with aesthetics in mind, to create a luxurious environment for shoppers.

A key part of the interior design was a series of handmade Chinese rugs which were made specifically for the refurbishment and designed to reflect the Derbyshire landscape. However, with over 20 million visitors a year, it quickly became apparent that there was a requirement for more than just practical maintenance of these expensive, bespoke furnishings as they were showing signs of colour loss and staining. After identifying the need for a specialist service, Westfield Derby called us in.

We developed a programme to ensure that the rugs were brought back to their former glory, and a regular carpet care programme is now in place. Without this specialist attention, these carefully crafted rugs could have been destined for less salubrious surroundings as their novelty wore off and they succumbed to daily wear and tear.

The success of resolving the initial problem resulted in Westfield Derby calling in ServiceMaster Clean to consult on other flooring. Since then, our experts have repaired damaged wooden staircases using specialist wooden flooring machinery, greatly improving cost efficiency for the centre by maintaining the flooring otherwise destined for landfill.

Lessen landfill It's no longer enough to simply think about caring for our environment. We need to take action now to prevent greater damage in the future. Simple measures like regular maintenance of flooring might seem insignificant when compared to more immediate green issues like shredding and recycling plastic, for example. However, with the dramatic statistic that only 1 per cent of almost 600,000 tonnes of flooring waste is currently recycled, a small change to the way customers maintain their premises, can make a huge difference to what ends up in landfill.

For further information about ServiceMaster Clean services, please call the number in the box or see www.servicemasterclean.co.uk