Are chair mats recyclable? Australia's favourite chair mats are!

Proudly offering Australia’s first and only recyclable chair mats.

It’s a sad time when your mat comes to the end of its life, but even our heavy duty chair mats don’t last forever. So, what do you do when yours no longer works? Does it go to a landfill? Are chair mats recyclable?

We are proud to offer Australia’s only recyclable chair mats. Since Matshop’s inception in 2013, we knew we wanted to focus our business on sustainability. As an Australian, family-owned business, it has always been important to us that we look after our community.

Without planet Earth, we won’t have any community, so sustainable products and processes have always been our priority. As one of our most popular products, and one that is always made of plastic, here is our method of making chair mats more sustainable.

 

Are plastic office chair mats recyclable?

To anyone that doesn’t know what chair mats are for, office chairs have wheels known as casters, which allow the chair to roll around. These casters easily damage almost every floor type, and plastic floor mats are the best barrier to place between them.

Plastic is infamously terrible for the planet, but it is more the abandonment in a landfill that makes plastic bad, not the plastic itself. Recycling plastics makes them much less harmful and is sometimes even better than alternatives.

Not all plastic is made equal. Some can be recycled over and over again, while others can’t be recycled at all. All our chair mats are recyclable and can be recycled multiple times. With a guaranteed 12-year first life, that’s not bad!

 

Which types of chair mats can we recycle?

To find recyclable plastic chair mats, you need to look closely at the material it is made from. Generally, high-quality chair mats are more likely to be recyclable than low-quality chair mats, as they are most likely to be made from unadulterated PVC.

For a chair mat to be recyclable, it must be made from plastic with no plasticisers. Any chair mats that contain plasticisers will contaminate the new PVC products. As Matshop chair mats do not contain plasticisers, they can be broken down and recycled into new plastic products.

Unfortunately, we cannot currently recycle chair mats purchased from other distributors as we can’t confirm they contain no plasticisers. But, we are very optimistic that in the future, brands will choose to make their products from great quality materials that can be recycled.

 

So how do we do it?

We can't take the credit. We have partnered with JK Plastics, an Australian-owned and operated plastic processing business. By sorting, cleaning and breaking down old plastics, JK Plastics helps more products to be made from old products rather than from virgin plastic.

Less brand-new plastic products means less potential plastic in landfill. So, the old product is recycled and the plastic that would have been used for the new product can go to something else.

JK Plastics have a simple strategy: washing the plastic, shredding it and then granulating it.

Washing the plastic is done in two stages. First, hot or cold water is used to remove dirt and debris, and then a stronger solution is used to decontaminate the plastic. The cleaned plastic is then shredded into smaller strips, which are then granulated. The granules are ideal for creating new products because they melt easily.

Plastic granules ready to be made into new products.

 

The only recyclable chair mats in Australia

Many of our customers ask if their office chair mats are recyclable, and the simple answer is yes – if you bought it from us. Plastic chair mats are recyclable if they do not contain harmful plasticisers. As we know ours never do, they are 100% recyclable.

For more information on recycling your chair mats, or to find out more about our sustainability campaigns, get in touch. As always, you can reach us using the chat function below or by calling 1300 628 746. Our friendly matxperts are always happy to help.

If you want to know more about sustainable matting options, check out this article on the other types of eco-friendly mats.