Carpet reuse in office floor plates
100000 tonnes per year and a PEMD that weighs on disposal
On an 850 m² floor plate, installing brand-new carpet costs between 30000 and 42000€ and sends 6.8 tonnes of CO₂e to mixed construction waste skips, whereas 55 to 70% of the existing stock can be reinstalled as is. On the floor plates we have audited recently, the gap is confirmed: lift-clean-reinstall drops to 18-28€/m² against 35-50€/m² for new installation, freeing up 14000 to 22000€ at delivery. Kytom has been industrialising this process since 2006 across its 11 agencies in France and Spain, delivers 850 m² in 12 weeks and provides the project owner with an enforceable PEMD slip under decree no. 2021-821 of 25 June 2021. This slip is not an administrative formality: it becomes part of the asset disposal file, valued by brokers and credited 2 to 4 points on BREEAM In-Use V6 and HQE Bâtiment Durable ratings. Here is how we proceed, and the cases in which we advise against this route.
The framework
Environmental building certification standards, on targets relating to materials and waste management, value this approach. On the files we have supported, reuse contributes positively to the rating of materials and waste targets.
Your gains
40 to 60% cash-flow savings, with no depreciation to forecast
Three measurable indicators structure the economic trade-off on the typical floor plate handled by our teams (median area 850 m²).
| Indicator | New installation | Kytom reuse | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost €/m² installed | 35 to 50€ | 18 to 28€ | -40 to -60% |
| Total budget 850 m² plate | 30000 to 42000€ | 15000 to 24000€ | 14000 to 22000€ |
| Carbon footprint | 6.8 t CO₂e | 0.5 to 1 t CO₂e | 6 to 7.5 t avoided |
| Project lead time | 12 weeks | 12 weeks | identical |
For CFOs and asset managers: the saving is not a recurring OPEX, it is a one-shot avoided CAPEX at delivery, with no depreciation to forecast. On an 850 m² floor plate, the 14000 to 22000€ freed up cover 1 to 2 months of prime Paris CBD rent (basis 600 to 800€/m²/year excl. tax and charges, Île-de-France market 2023-2024) and often offset the schedule slippage of a refurbishment. The carbon conversion (35000 km in a combustion-engine car, emission factor of 0.193 kg CO₂e/km) feeds directly into scope 3 of the regulatory GHG assessment.
On the asset valuation side, finance departments observe on some of the files we support an improvement in their ESG rating, the extent of which remains to be confirmed with their brokers according to their internal grids.
Real case
850 m² Île-de-France plate: 19000€ freed up in 12 weeks
On a typical 850 m² floor plate delivered in 2023 (tertiary group, services sector, Île-de-France), Kytom audited 850 m² of tiles installed 7 years earlier. Result of the wear mapping: 62% of the stock reusable on site, 8% reusable off site, 30% to be directed to the REP PMCB channel.
The new installation budget estimated at 38500€ (45€/m² supply and install) dropped to 19500€ for lift-clean-reinstall (23€/m² all-in), i.e. 19000€ freed up at delivery. The 30% top-up was provided with new low-carbon tiles (EF 5.2 kg CO₂e/m²) laid out in a buffer zone between the existing and new wings, to harmonise the visual finish.
The PEMD slip documented 5.9 tonnes of CO₂e avoided and 527 m² of textile tiles kept in a reuse loop. The project owner added this slip to the lease renewal file (negotiation with the property company), and the in-use environmental certification file gained 3 points on the materials and waste targets. Project lead time: 12 weeks, including 4 weeks of lifting-cleaning on an occupied site during off-peak hours (6pm-11pm, teams of 2 pairs).
Honesty
Three cases where we advise against reuse
Reuse reaches its technical and economic ceiling in three configurations identified during the audit phase. We prefer to tell you before the project rather than during it.
Usable area below 300 m² of workable stock. The fixed costs of audit, team mobilisation and buffer storage outweigh the unit saving, and the ROI falls below a 15% gap with new installation. Below this threshold, we steer towards new installation with low-carbon tiles (EF below 6 kg CO₂e/m²) rather than simulating a barely profitable reuse.
Stock installed for more than 12 years. The bituminous backing of the tiles becomes brittle and the breakage rate during lifting becomes significant, whereas it remains markedly lower on products installed less than 8 years ago. Reuse becomes symbolic: we recommend directing the stock to the REP PMCB channel for material recycling.
Floor plate delivered bare with no existing stock. The reuse logic does not apply. We switch to new low-carbon tiles with traced sourcing (verified FDES, European manufacturing) and capitalise on the project’s carbon target rather than on the circular economy.
To these three cases is added a fourth, more frequent one: a change of layout (50×50 tiles to 4 m broadloom rolls or vice versa) which nullifies the reuse logic on the relevant zone and requires a mix with complementary new tiles.
Method
- Audit and wear mapping
In 1 to 2 days depending on area, a Kytom site manager photographs the floor plate and maps the wear zone by zone (circulation, workstations, meeting rooms). The deliverable is a dimensioned plan with the percentage of reusable stock, the anticipated breakage rate and a target budget costed per m². - Sorted lifting into 3 streams
The pairs lift manually at a rate of 80 to 120 m²/day, sorting in real time: reusable on site, reusable off site, recyclable material to the REP PMCB channel. Each tile is coded for reinstallation and each stream weighed for the PEMD slip. - Injection-extraction cleaning
The retained tiles undergo injection-extraction cleaning at 60°C with type I ecolabelled products. Forced drying under ventilation for 24 to 48 hours, visual and olfactory check before buffer storage. Tiles that fail the quality check are switched to the recycling stream. - Recalibration and reinstallation
The layout is recalculated on the new fit-out plan, with a mix of 10 to 30% complementary new tiles in the buffer zone. Weighted laying or repositionable bonding depending on the substrate, signed quality check, PEMD slip handed to the project owner with the CO₂e tonnage avoided.
Frequently asked questions
From what surface area does carpet reuse become economically relevant?
The threshold is best measured through an audit rather than a theoretical surface area: on an 850 m² floor plate, reuse recovers 55–70% of existing stock and yields €14,000–22,000, with costs shifting from €35–50/m² for new installation to €18–28/m² for removal-cleaning-reinstallation. On small surfaces, fixed audit and logistics costs erode unit savings: a prior stock audit confirms relevance before any commitment.
