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16
CONSTRUCTION WORLD
APRIL
2016
ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY
A joint venture between entrepreneur Jaco Snyman,
carpeting and flooring giant Van Dyck and Hammars-
dale-based Mathe Group, Envirobuild will produce a
high quality product that is suitable for the local market
and export.
Jaco Snyman, managing director of Envirobuild, says that the
new products, which include 93% recycled materials, are a perfect fit
with increasing demand for greener flooring options. Internationally,
architects, interior designers and the construction industry are under
pressure to meet their clients’ sustainable building requirements in
order to ensure green building certifications.
“There is very little high quality flooring of this nature produced
locally so there is definitely a market for it. We are the first company to
produce eco-friendly rubber flooring in KwaZulu-Natal and one of very
few in South Africa,” he said.
Flooring products
A wide variety of flooring products, including rubber paving bricks
(200 mm x 100 mm), Dog Bone paving bricks (200 mm x 100 mm), rubber
paving tiles (500 mm x 500 mm), a twin brick pattern Tile (1 000 mm
x 1 000 mm) and an interlocking tile (1 012 mm x 1 012 mm) will be
manufactured at Van Dyck’s factory.
They will be available in a variety of thicknesses – from 13 mm to
38 mm for the paving tiles and from 20 mm to 50 mm for the bricks –
and colours, including black, rust, green and speckled.
The main component of Envirobuild flooring is rubber crumb that is
sourced from Mathe Group.
Significant synergies
Managing director of Van Dyck, Dr Mehran Zarrebini, said the collab-
oration between the partners was exciting as there were significant
synergies in place. Van Dyck produces rubber based acoustic cradles
and underlays for commercial carpeting and sporting applications while
Mathe is a well-established tyre recycler.
Minor adjustments to existing machinery at Van Dyck’s south
Durban factory meant that production could begin immediately.
“However, because we anticipate volumes going up both quickly and
appreciably, we have invested R800 000 in additional machinery which
is due to arrive within the next three months and is expected to be oper-
ational by the beginning of June. This will quadruple existing capacity,”
said Zarrebini.
“This is an exciting venture for us. We are about to commission a
new plant in Hammarsdale that has capacity to recycle 250 000 truck
tyres. This will be an important market for our rubber crumb. It is
particularly exciting venture as there are still very few secondary rubber
products made from recycled rubber in South Africa,” says head of
Mathe Group, Vusumuzi Mathe.
South Africa is currently dealing with a major environmental chal-
lenge as it works to recycle 60 million waste truck tyres that have piled
up over the years. An estimated 10 million truck tyres more are added to
this each year.
Snyman added that the partnership with Van Dyck, a highly
respected brand within the flooring sector, was particularly important
as that company not only provided the manufacturing expertise but
also enhanced the credibility of a new entrant into the market.
He said that although he had initially looked to importing
environmentally friendly rubber flooring products from Canada and
America, he had quickly abandoned this as the exchange rate made this
unaffordable. Imports would be landed at ten times the price of locally
made products.
There is a ready supply of used tyres in South Africa and Enviro-
build will be able to both make and deliver mats to America more
cheaply than they can produce them here, opening up significant
export opportunities.
Rubber flooring is suitable for a wide range of applications. It
absorbs impact and cushions falls, making it ideal for use in play areas,
schools and retirement facilities. Together with increased grip, this
also makes rubber flooring particularly suitable for use in gyms, dance
studios and sporting facilities. It is also ideal for use around swimming
pools and wet areas such as saunas and jacuzzis.
Snyman said that rubber flooring was also suitable for industry and
warehousing as it was able to withstand impacts as well as high footfall
and the movement of heavy equipment such as hoists and forklifts.
Envirobuild products are low maintenance and durable and are
quick and easy to lay. Because rubber bricks are much lighter
than brick or concrete paving and some products come in sheets,
they can be laid more quickly and easily with the added bonus
of far less breakage. This negates additional outlay to cover
damaged materials.
In addition, they are easy to lift and replace should repairs
to like water pipes or under floor cabling be necessary. Rubber
paving is ideal for slopes where there is the risk of moving ground
and the need for increased flexibility to mould to the shape of
the surface.
Currently, Envirobuild is working towards receiving Green Tag
certification in order to further enhance its presence in the sustain-
able building materials market. GreenTag is a unique, independent
third party, green building and other sustainable product rating
and certification program based on life cycle assessment (LCA).
This is expected to be boosted by the fact that Van Dyck is
both ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001 accredited. In 2013, it became
one of just a handful of companies with ISO 14064-1 accreditation
due to massive reduction in greenhouse emissions.
RUBBER FLOORING
Envirobuild, KwaZulu-Natal’s first
manufacturer of eco-friendly rubber flooring
for commercial, industrial and residential
use, has launched an extensive range of
rubber paving tiles and bricks made from
recycled truck tyres.
Seated left is Jaco Snyman, Envirobuild managing director, standing
Mehran Zarrebini, Van Dyck Carpets head and right Vusimuzi Mathe,
Mathe Group director.
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