Envirolay Carbon Footprint Measured

Texfelt Ltd has measured the carbon footprint of its leading felt underlay brand ‘Envirolay’.

A carbon footprint gives a measure of a product’s impact on climate change. Texfelt had the analysis carried out both to pinpoint ways of reducing Envirolay’s carbon emissions and to help consumers choose the greenest products.

The carbon footprint analysis, carried out by consultancy Shearwater Environmental, covers the carbon emissions arising from the whole supply chain for Envirolay, from raw materials through to leaving the factory gate. It includes the emissions from energy use and haulage at each stage, including the product’s packaging.

The approach used to carry out the analysis was based on the methodology used by Carbon Trust in its Carbon Labelling pilot programme with Walkers, Boots and Innocent, and which is now being developed into the PAS 2050 Publicly Available Standard.

Envirolay, which is made in Texfelt’s Elland factory, West Yorkshire, is already seen as a ‘green’ product – it is made from 100% recycled textile fibres, and when in use it helps insulate buildings and so reduces the energy needed for heating.

The analysis shows that Envirolay has a carbon footprint of 345g (of carbon dioxide or equivalent greenhouse gas) per kg of underlay. This can also be expressed as 492g per square metre of underlay.

James Taylor, Managing Director of Texfelt says: “Because this is the first published carbon footprint figure for carpet underlay, it is difficult to show whether this is a low figure or not. However, we are confident that Envirolay’s carbon footprint is low compared to non-felt underlays, because its raw materials are almost all recycled materials produced in the UK. We urge other underlay manufacturers to measure the carbon footprints of their products too.”