Finding Partners

We're on the lookout for partner organisations (in Scandinavia) that can work with Interface. Here's a brief idea of how ReEntry works, and the role that the partner organisations play:

From the diagram you can see that we're talking about second hand carpet tiles, which are removed from a customer's premises when they buy new carpet from Interface. The used carpet tiles vary in condition (some of the tiles could still have a useful life of up to 15 years, whereas some may be worn, stained or damaged).

The partner organisations take responsibility for the carpet tiles once they are received from Interface. There are commercial arrangements in place between the partner organisation and Interface, which vary depending on circumstances and market factors.

The main idea behind financing ReEntry is that the cost of otherwise disposing the old carpet tiles at landfill is still charged to Interface's customer but is used to cover logistics and overhead costs from the ReEntry program.

The partner organisations have a number of options for treating the carpet tiles and finding a new market for it. The objective is to avoid the carpet ending up in landfill, though some options are more preferable in terms of a waste hierarchy and conservation of resources.

Interface has a number of criteria for selecting partners. Being able to handle pallets of carpet tiles, and having access to a market for the tiles are crucial factors. However, since the ReEntry program is part of Interface's overall sustainability strategy, it is also important that partner organisations contribute to society in a positive way. This area is something we wish to explore in more detail during our research.

The experience from ReEntry in other countries shows that partner organisations are energetic and creative socially-minded enterprises that provide skills training, employment (and low cost carpet tiles and / or other carpet-derived products). Typically they are in the business of recycling office furniture.

If you know of any organisations that fit this category, we would love to hear about them.