Five years of Re.Form - finding a way forward
Five years ago we launched Re.Form, our product stewardship programme, with one key sustainability target in mind: collecting enough post-consumer vinyl to fill our first container for recycling.
It's a goal we've worked towards diligently ever since and today we're closer than ever to reaching it. We've just released our most recent Impact Report, and during that reporting period we were proud to be named recipients of Auckland Council Waste Minimisation and Innovation Fund support — recognition from the Council of the value and waste minimisation potential of Re.Form.
Energised by the prospect of being so close to this major milestone, we began the process of preparing for export and discovered a major roadblock. Under the Imports and Exports Restrictions (Prohibition) Order (No 2) 2004, used vinyl, in its original form, is classified as hazardous waste. Exporting it would require a hazardous waste license, a process that is time-consuming and expensive.
Instead of viewing this as a dead end, we embraced the challenge. We dug deeper into the regulations, working closely with our partners at Tarkett and the Environmental Protection Agency, and through this collaborative effort, identified a workable pathway forward. By granulating the vinyl into small pellets, it is converted from a hazardous waste into valuable raw material, ready to be recycled into new flooring.
With a viable solution in front of us, we began contacting plastic recycling facilities across Aotearoa to explore granulation options. We reached out to twelve facilities in total and all of them expressed the same concern around the risk of cross-contamination with PET streams. Disheartened but not discouraged, we continued to push forward.
With no existing partner who was willing to granulate our product, we turned our attention to purchasing our own granulator. We researched, compared, measured our limited warehouse space and spoke with a range of manufacturers. Eventually, we found a machine that would be perfect for our needs but the full setup was going to cost more than $100,000.
Although the board was supportive, this was a significant investment. Given our prior success with the Auckland Waste Minimisation Fund, we decided to apply again. We knew that the application process would be rigorous but we were hopeful that our vision would resonate. At the end of 2024, we received the exciting news that our project had been granted funding.
FINDING A SOLUTION
Just as we began planning the granulator purchase, we were approached by a matting manufacturer who offered to become our granulation partner. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect.
We pivoted quickly and ran a small granulation trial, sending samples to Sweden for assessment by Tarkett’s recycling plant. With their approval, we suddenly had two viable options: invest in our own machine or partner with an existing operator.
After weighing environmental impact, utilisation and long-term sustainability, we chose the partnership pathway. This would allow us to avoid the embodied carbon and under-utilisation of purchasing a new machine, while still meeting our programme’s needs.
SORTING THROUGH THE CHALLENGES
In 2025, we sorted through the 80+ bags of flooring material that had been returned through our product stewardship programme, Re.Form. It took a team of 8-10 Jacobsen volunteers two days to sort through them, an intense but rewarding effort.
We discovered that not all returned materials were usable. Some bags had been used as general rubbish bins; others contained competitor products, unfit for recycling. This reinforced the need for more effective education to help customers understand what can and cannot, be returned through the programme.
Even though we experienced some road bumps, after two full days of sorting, we were left with a clean, viable batch of vinyl, ready for granulation. All usable product has now been delivered to our granulating partner ready for granulating.
WHAT COMES NEXT
We are currently around two tonnes short of the minimum requirement needed to ship a full container to Tarkett’s recycling plant in Sweden. Working closely with the sales team and our warehouse, we are accelerating efforts to collect more returns through our Re.Form programme. We remain committed to our goal — to send our first full container back to Sweden in 2026.
This journey has been anything but straightforward. But it has shown and continues to show, the strength of our commitment. When faced with regulatory barriers, financial hurdles and operational challenges, we keep pushing forward and find a way.