5 common myths about plastic flooring
03 March 2020
Plastic flooring has become a very popular option for many businesses and home owners and is a great alternative to traditional flooring.
Initially, plastic became a very marketable material due to it’s versatility and price; it can withstand a lot of abuse and cleans like new in most cases. Due to advances over the past few years, plastic flooring is now available in all shapes, sizes and colours and can totally transform an area.However, in the age of Extinction Rebellion, it is fashionable to make wild generalisations about plastic and claim that it is all bad. But, it’s worth reflecting on the history of plastic and asking why it has become such an essential part of life in the 21st century – especially plastic flooring.
Plastic is a word that originally meant “pliable and easily shaped.” It only recently became a name for a category of materials called polymers; polymers are strong, lightweight, and flexible.
These properties make synthetic polymers exceptionally useful and since we learned how to create and manipulate them, polymers have become an essential part of our lives. Especially over the last 50 years, plastics have saturated our world and changed the way that we live.
Debunking Myths About PVC Plastic Flooring
Hard and Uncomfortable to Walk On
It’s a common misconception that plastic flooring is just as hard as concrete flooring which can lead to long-term health effects for workers standing up all day.
A softer flooring material, like foam, is often seen as a good alternative but actually offers no resistance and has limited stability; can you imagine trying to operate a factory with foam flooring?
PVC flooring provides the strength and toughness that is required for industrial flooring and heavy-duty traffic but with the right amount of flexibility and cushioning to create an anti-fatigue surface for employees.
Cheap = Low Quality
Society assume that cheap and plastic go hand in hand which is true to some extent, but this doesn’t mean that quality is sacrificed. One of the primary reasons plastic is so popular and attractive today is because it is so economical yet still able to outperform other materials. Plastic flooring isn’t how most imagine it to be; it isn’t rock solid and easily snapped. It is flexible, soft and almost rubber like.
Another common assumption is that plastic flooring comes from China and doesn’t follow the strict EU/CE rules. We can’t speak on behalf of everyone else, but we manufacture our tiles here in the UK, and our materials come from Europe too.
Health and Safety Hazard
High shine surfaces often become slippery when wet so it is understandable that people believe this is the case with plastic flooring.
However, because polymers are so flexible, and we have learned how to mould them to our needs, it is possible to manufacture tiles with an R10 slip rating. The non-slip properties of Ecotile reduce dangerous slip hazards in both wet and dry conditions.
Plastic Flooring Burns Easily
Unlike many other types of plastic flooring, Ecotile interlocking floor tiles do not support combustion and achieve Class 1 spread of flame when tested to BS 476: Part 7 / DIN 13501: 2004 – Bfl-S1.
This means that if a building with an Ecotile floor is on fire, the tiles will not help the fire to spread and will not give off any toxic fumes.
Not Eco-Friendly
In comparison to traditional floor coverings such as sheet vinyl, epoxy, paint and laminate flooring PVC interlocking tiles have a significantly lower adverse impact on the environment.
PVC is less reliant on non-renewable resources, such as gas and crude oil in its production, consumption and disposal. It also has a longer life cycle due to its durability, which in turn means it has a lower carbon footprint.
Can Ecotile Be Recycled?
Ecotile is loose laid and not adhered to the floor, so it can re-used or recylced easily. Because of this, an Ecotile floor will never end up landfill. Any off-cuts or excess material after installation can also be reused and recycled.
Our PVC floor tiles can be granulated at the end of their service life and recycled into new floor tiles. With a long life span every time, Ecotile is a durable and reliable flooring solution that businesses all around the world chose. This just prove you shouldn’t listen to negative assumptions about plastic flooring.
For further benefits and information of Ecotile, contact us today.
Other Press Releases By This Company
- 04/04/2024 - Introducing Ecotile's Modular Anti-Fatigue Floor Tiles
- 28/06/2022 - Upgrading a showroom floor
- 28/06/2022 - Putting Ecotile at the Core of Wye Fruit’s Packing Facility
- 28/03/2022 - Why More Customers Are Creating Ecotile Test Areas
- 22/09/2021 - Don't Repair Your Concrete Floor Until You Read This
- 15/02/2021 - Why the Electronics Industry Needs ESD Flooring
- 15/02/2021 - Using Ecotile Flooring to Implement the 5S Methodology
- 15/02/2021 - The Importance of Sustainability to Effective Warehouse Management
- 15/02/2021 - Staying Safe & Social Distancing in Your Workplace
- 11/11/2020 - 10 Things to Consider Before Choosing a Manufacturer
- 14/10/2020 - Flooring solutions for the logistics industry
- 07/04/2020 - Signs It’s Time to Replace Your Industrial Flooring
- 07/04/2020 - Ecotile and The Arts: Tate Modern
- 03/03/2020 - Prevent slips and falls in the industrial workplace
- 15/01/2020 - Greener ways to heat your workplace
- 15/01/2020 - 15 Reasons to Use Interlocking Floor Tiles
- 15/01/2020 - The importance of manufacturing to the UK economy
- 05/04/2019 - What Is A Damp Proof Membrane? A Quick & Easy DPM Guide
- 05/04/2019 - 3 things to think about when choosing a factory floor
- 30/01/2019 - What’s the difference between anti-static and ESD/ conductive flooring ?
- 09/10/2018 - Pirelli launches its own exclusive retail development and training centre
- 09/10/2018 - Factory: Kentec Electronics
- 09/10/2018 - Exmel Solutions
- 03/10/2018 - Esprit Electronics Ltd
- 03/10/2018 - Electronics manufacture: West Control Solutions
- 03/10/2018 - Eschmann Holdings, West Sussex
- 03/10/2018 - Bournemouth & Poole College of Further Education
- 16/04/2018 - Blowplast Ltd, High Wycombe
- 16/04/2018 - Ecotile working with Airbus Helicopters
- 25/04/2017 - Ecotile Flooring Ltd are proud to announce they have won 2 of the prestigious Queen’s Awards for Enterprise in the Innovation and International Trade categories.
- 21/09/2016 - Rolls-Royce / Ecotile Flooring
- 12/04/2016 - Industrial automation leaders improve warehouse efficiency with Ecotile
- 17/03/2016 - Winton Flooring win Kwik Fit work with Ecotile
- 16/02/2016 - Ecotile help Paxton take access control to the next level
- 14/01/2016 - Ecotile interlocking PVC floor tiles are the first choice for car dealerships
- 05/01/2016 - Middlewich Food Trays invests in Ecotile floor
- 16/11/2015 - Royal stamp of approval for UK flooring manufacturer - Ecotile
- 12/11/2015 - Ecotile: the specialist industrial flooring system deployed in mission critical applications
- 12/11/2015 - Ecotile: the flooring Hitachi Power Tools can rely on
- 12/11/2015 - Ecotile: the right pedigree for Jollyes Pet Food Superstore
- 12/11/2015 - Ecotile: specialist solutions to tough warehousing challenges
- 12/11/2015 - Ecotile Quality - Without Compromise
- 12/11/2015 - Ecotile awarded first place with honours by University of Birmingham
- 12/11/2015 - Top Safety Accreditation for Ecotile Flooring
- 29/10/2015 - PVC interlocking floor tiles
