The environmental company Ragn-Sells and the large French company Tarkett announced today a collaboration aimed at developing carbon-negative mineral fillers for vinyl floors by 2025, using ash waste from electricity production in Ida-Virumaa.
In Estonia, oil shale is mainly used for energy production. As a result, nearly 600 million tons of oil shale ash have been deposited in nature. Ragn-Sells has developed a patented solution that transforms ash into ultra-pure calcium carbonate using technology, while also binding the material with a large amount of carbon dioxide.
Tarkett uses several hundred thousand tons of mineral fillers for vinyl flooring each year, most of which is calcium carbonate. The calcium carbonate currently used by Tarkett is already carbon neutral, but the calcium carbonate produced by Ragn-Sells is expected to have a carbon negative footprint. The partnership with Ragn-Sells will significantly contribute to Tarkett's 2030 goal of using 30 percent recycled raw materials
"Today's society is based on the unsustainable use of natural resources. Ragn-Sells has set itself the goal of bringing more already used resources back into circulation. To connect these material chains, we need to cooperate with other users of the value chain," says Pär Larshans, Ragn-Sells Group Sustainability Director. "Tarkett is an excellent example of a company that shares our vision and commitment, and we are very much looking forward to the developments of the cooperation," continues Larshans.
"Through this cooperation, Tarkett hopes to realize the opportunity to produce floor coverings with raw materials that contribute to the cleaning of Estonia's natural environment, while also collecting carbon dioxide. As a result, our vinyl floors can also have a smaller carbon footprint and a higher proportion of recycled raw materials. It is an innovative and strong partnership that paves the way for a circular economy-based and carbon-neutral society," says Tarkett Sustainability Manager Arnaud Marquis.
The calcium carbonate currently used by Tarkett already has a carbon neutral footprint of 0.006 kgCO2eq per kilogram throughout the supply chain. The calcium carbonate produced by Ragn-Sells is expected to produce a negative carbon footprint of -0.4 kgCO2eq per kilogram throughout the supply chain.
For the shale ash recovery project launched six years ago, Ragn-Sells AS created a scientific consortium in Estonia, in which researchers from the University of Tartu and Tallinn University of Technology participate in conducting basic and applied research. The Archimedes Foundation and EAS have also joined as co-sponsors of the research.
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