ENVIRONMENT

RENEWABLE ? FOR THE FUTURE

Bolon has long been a pioneer in environmental stewardship and has been certified to the ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems since 1999. Bolon works continuously to update its products to meet the stringent environmental requirements of the market. Today, we use the best technology available to guarantee that our woven vinyl flooring has as little impact on the environment as possible. A major part of our environmental practices are incorporated into daily operations based on an environmentally-aware approach across our organisation ? ground water instead of freon in the cooling systems, heat from the furnaces as the main source of heating for the factory during the winter, green electricity and so on. However, efforts aimed at improving the environment are unceasing ? which is why we wanted to set ourselves a challenge. Can we become even better?

OUR LONG-TERM ENVIRONMENTAL VISION:

BOLON® GREEN

Bolon® Green is a strategic objective where we aim at being able to offer a completely environmentally adapted and climate neutral product.

Our ongoing work to meet this objective includes an extensive

programme focused on increased recycling ? with waste from

production processes, but also by repurchasing surplus materials from other producers. Bolon is the first flooring enterprise in the world to switch to using plasticisers which consist of 100% renewable raw material, with origin in the plant kingdom. The plasticiser is

included in the new 2010 Botanic collection and it is Bolon's goal to have it in all the products in its entire product range.

Bolon's woven vinyl floorings are based on raw material from production units which have adopted the voluntary measures of the VINYL 2010* programme.

We know that building a sustainable company requires many

purposeful steps and this is why we have groundwater in our cooling systems, excess heat from our furnaces heat the factory premises and we use 100% renewable electricity.

In order to make our customers feel secure, we use independent third-party certifications. In addition to the ISO 14001** certification that we have had since 1999, Bolon's products became FloorScore-certified*** in 2009.

* Vinyl 2010 is an industry initiative in sustainable development. It is a 10-year plan for developing the PVC material for a sustainable society by improving production processes and products, investing in new technology, reducing emissions and waste, and increasing collection and recycling. Vinyl 2010 has been recognised as a sustainable development cooperation partner by the UN Commission on Sustainable

Development (CSD) since October 2004.

** ISO 14001 is an international standard for quality-assured environmental work which is based on

continuous improvement and has existed since 1996. The standard requires independent auditors to

review the environmental work every 12 months.

*** This label is the U.S. floor industry?s basis of assessment for classification in compliance with the

increasingly accepted LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building rating

system, which encourages sustainable, environmentally-responsible and resource-efficient construction.

For Bolon® Green press releases click here.