Rug company Louis De Poortere has switched its full product range to a circular economic model.
The manufacturer has stopped use of cotton and switched to polyester and launched a take-back scheme.
The 100% polyester construction (currently with 20% recycled content) has been chosen for the material’s easy recyclability and because it stays close to the look and feel of the cotton that it replaces. Polyester can also be recycled without loss of integrity, meaning that Louis De Poortere can turn it back into a new rug without any degrade in design or quality.
‘We have taken the decision to make our rugs circular, where the product can be recycled back into itself time and time again, so it was important to find a material that allowed us to do that with existing recycling technology. Even more so as we’ve set a target of seeing a transition to the first 100% recycled rugs in 2025. Polyester gives us that opportunity, while still being able to manufacture rugs that uphold our design and quality standards.’ Says Bert Schollier, Louis De Poortere production and development director.
The company has created the Take Care scheme to ensure it can control the process. Once the rug has reached the end of its useful life for the customer, they scan the QR code on the label and Take Care continues its journey back into a new rug.
‘What good is a recyclable rug that isn’t recycled, or that simply ends up being burnt? We’re passionate about our journey to making circular products, but we knew that to achieve this we would have to do something more fundamental than just making the switch to a “recyclable” yarn for Ecorugs,’ says Louis Dryon, Louis De Poortere coo.
‘We had to make sure that unwanted rugs were returned to us, so that we could process them properly and ensure they were either reused or recycled into a new rug. Take Care achieves this by keeping out of household recycling streams and making it really easy for the customer to return their rug to us. More than this, it makes circularity possible in the now rather than an ambition of the future.’
