A FAMILY-RUN flooring company has made its own commitment to marine conservation by launching a unique new product made almost entirely from plastic bottles.

Connection Flooring is selling a carpet underlay under its Flooring Superstore brand, which contains fibres from 500ml plastic bottles.

Fittingly named Ocean 10mm, the range supports marine conservation by preventing waste plastic ending up in landfill or the oceans. A typical roll of the underlay is made using 180 bottles, with 85 per cent of the entire product being manufactured from recycled material.

The launch of the product coincides with the Shildon-based company announcing that following a drive to increase recycling at its offices, warehouses and stores across the UK, 99 per cent of the waste it produces is now diverted from landfill.

Dan Foskett, managing director of Connection Flooring, said: “As a company employing over 150 people, we are very conscious about the need to reduce our carbon footprint and have been working hard to increase recycling and introduce more environmentally-friendly products.

“All our wood flooring, for example, is sourced using sustainable forests so for every tree chopped down to make our products, a new one is grown too.

“The introduction of our new Ocean 10mm range represents another contribution by Connection Flooring towards protecting the plant.

“Aside from being a high-quality product, by using something made from plastic bottles, it prevents even more waste plastic reaching our oceans and landfill.

“And the added bonus is at the end of its lifecycle, the underlay is 100 per cent recyclable.”

By taking a zero waste to landfill approach, Connection Flooring has also seen its waste costs cut by 83 per cent and is now making revenue from recyclable wood, plastic and cardboard. It’s even enabled the company to employ a full-time waste management officer.

Connection Flooring started life as an online retailer but over the last few years has opened 15 bricks and mortar stores, from Edinburgh in the north to Havant and Newton Abbot in the south.

Shoppers who visit its stores have access to three brands, Flooring Superstore, Grass Direct and Direct Wood Flooring. The stores sell carpets and a huge range of other flooring, such as laminate and luxury vinyl tiles and the UK’s largest selection of artificial grass. The latter is designed to meet the growing demand from householders for artificial, rather than real, grass.