TenCate in Dubai achieves Zero Waste to Landfill Gold Validation

TenCate, a world leader in the artificial grass industry, today announced that it has achieved UL Solutions’ Zero Waste to Landfill (ZWtL) Gold Validation for its largest manufacturing facility TenCate Middle East in Dubai. Affirming TenCate’s commitment to environmental stewardship and sustainability.

TenCate Middle East in Dubai is the first global yarn production facility in the artificial grass industry to achieve a Gold rating from UL Solutions, a global independent safety science company, based on the UL Spot public information. This means that they had to achieve a landfill diversion rate of 95 to 99% or greater, which they comfortably met with a waste diversion rate of 96% through methods that do not involve waste thermal processing.

Minimizing footprint at the source

To achieve this great result, TenCate Middle East has designed programs to minimize the environmental footprint at the source. By developing innovative manufacturing techniques and continued investments in existing systems, and by focusing on robust employee training and waste reduction campaigns, the manufacturing facility was able to switch from waste management methods such as thermal processing and landfill disposal to recycling and reuse of waste.

Johan Vercruyssen, HSE and Industrial Standards Manager:
“TenCate Dubai already has a tradition of recycling our plastic waste streams for many years. We took this a step further to identify and control all other waste streams in our facility to ensure we can avoid, reduce, reuse and recycle in the best possible way. This has led to our Zero Waste to Landfill program that is now in full operation and has resulted in achieving more than 96% diversion of waste from landfill. We are proud of all our employees that make this system work and thus contribute to a better planet to live on! ”

ZWtL Validation for all production sites by end of 2024

And it doesn’t stop there. By using UL Solutions’ independent Environmental Claim Validation Program, TenCate aims to have all its manufacturing sites in the EU, USA and Middle East validated as per UL 2799 ZWtL by the end of 2024. The UL 2799 protocol requires that all waste flows within a facility comply with the regulatory requirements and are monitored to ensure the traceability of waste. Furthermore, they must be audited to confirm that the majority of waste volume has been properly reduced and recycled, and that any non-recyclable waste has been converted into useable energy (less than 10%), rather than waste being landfilled, or incinerated without energy recovery.

Empowering circularity

TenCate’s operating policy of minimizing waste, maximizing resource utilization and prevention of resource depletion is at the core of its sustainability strategy. By pursuing Zero Waste to Landfill validation, TenCate is demonstrating its commitment to reducing waste as a key sustainability initiative at its manufacturing sites worldwide.
Nikoleta Konstantinidou, ESG Group Director TenCate:
“The Zero Waste to Landfill Gold validation by UL Solutions is testament to effective efforts by our employees around the world to protect the environment, eliminate disposal of useful materials and encourage the establishment of synergies between organizations where the discarded materials from one operation become the source material for another, thus empowering circularity.”