The latest innovation in dryback non-vinyl flooring takes place in China as Chinese resilient flooring manufacturers try to work with PVC alternative polymers. While the project to develop non-vinyl flooring has long been expected but postponed due to Covid pandemic in 2020, manufacturers across China has continued to develop and enhance the production quality for PVC free LVT products.
Polypropylene vs Polyethylene Terephthalate
The resilient flooring industry in China has spin off with two major directions. One is the polypropylene (PP) plastic and another alternative Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET). Both type of polymers has shown enough characteristics to replace PVC based LVT products. However, each of these new material development solutions has shown different strength and weakness, which resulted in ambiguous interest by different flooring brand. Some global leading brands in flooring has chosen PET as their next generation LVT products, while other competitor brands choose PP-LVT as their prominent product development strategy.
First Dryback Non-Vinyl Flooring Collection by Tarkett
As a pioneer brand in the resilient flooring category, Tarkett has already launched their first dryback non-vinyl flooring collection, the iD Evolution. The iD Evolution offers commercial dryback LVT that is made from polypropylene based polymers. A 2.5mm thick LVT with 183 x 1219 mm plank size. With ten different pattern color designs to select from, this PVC free PP-LVT is considered a unique and environmental flooring products. According to their product introduction, the iD Evolution LVT collection has a carbon footprint (Cradle to gate) of 11.30 kg CO2/m2. An ideal flooring solution that can effectively support commercial project’s carbon footprint accountability.