Sustainability

More recycled content, fewer raw resources

Our innovative approach to sustainable material solutions reuses waste from the medical industry to create vinyl wallcovering with 30% recycled content.

As true makers of materials with our own production facilities in the Netherlands, we’re committed to making our material solutions more sustainable. With every concrete step forward – including continually increasing the proportion of recycled content in our material solutions – we’re reducing our environmental impact.

Reducing waste and virgin materials

One of our focus areas is tackling waste in industries where it’s hard to avoid, such as healthcare. Hospitals and care facilities rely on single-use vinyl-based materials to save lives. Medical materials that don’t meet the strict safety and hygiene standards of the healthcare industry during manufacture are discarded before they even reach the hospital floor, resulting in a lot of waste.

We saw an opportunity to reduce this waste and the amount of virgin material in our products by incorporating post-industrial medical waste from factories in Belgium and the Netherlands into vinyl wallcoverings: Clay, Luxor, Harrison and Stellar. The medical waste is shredded into flakes, melted and incorporated into wallcoverings that achieve a total recycled content of 30%, a big step up from our previous levels of 13-15%, demonstrating our commitment to continuous improvement. Making waste work requires a new way of working – less investment in raw materials and more investment in processing.

Vescom Stellar wallcovering detail showing a warm brushed metal look in an interior setting.

Medical waste is shredded, melted and incorporated into wallcoverings

Despite their origins, Clay, Luxor, Harrison and Stellar show no trace of the medical material. Clay evokes the warmth of hand-plastered walls, while Luxor is inspired by traditional handwoven linen. Harrison has a refined herringbone pattern and a woollen look and feel. With a brushed metallic appearance and a soft mineral sheen, Stellar reflects today’s humbler approach to glamour and luxury.

These products meet the highest standards of durability, hygiene and fire safety making them innovations in contract wallcovering that are suitable for all types of interiors. They represent a significant step towards making the most of waste materials – without compromising performance.