Boosting flooring sustainability and product markets

Bolidt is spinning several balls in the air – from boosting the sustainability of its products to striking new contracts and growing the market for its recent developments.  

The flooring and decking company is working on getting all the dangerous goods and hazard signs off packaging by developing friendly solutions that do not require these. 

Bolidt director maritime Jacco Van Overbeek tells PST, “We are trying to get rid of older dangerous goods labels for the binders, it is important for the environment. Binders are resin-based but we want to use more environmentally friendly solutions based on natural ingredients. 

“We now get a lot of enquiries from shipyards asking if we have an alternative that is environmentally friendly.”  

However, it is not easy to change these products. “It is not that easy to change some components and when we change something we have to do many tests. We also want to guarantee durability for our newly developed products,” comments Mr Van Overbeek.

Bolidt has made a good start, as it has already changed 28 products into an alternative, more sustainable products.  

In 2020, Bolidt saw its first delivery of Bolideck LED – and this has been followed by a range of orders from owners. Bolideck LED features integral LED lighting, and its first installation was on board 2,894-passenger capacity TUI Cruises vessel Mein Schiff 2. The LED lighting can be used within a larger deck space or deck design, or alternatively to create specific functional features. Bolideck LED also allows deck lighting to be programmed to form different patterns, or to vary the intensity of individual LEDs. 

The solution is also being used on Disney Cruise Line’s new ships, which are being built at Meyer Werft. “It is being used for the lines on the sports courts, meaning lines do not have to be painted, but rather the LED changes colour depending on the different sports played,” says Mr Van Overbeek.

“We will see the Bolideck LED system used more and more. As well as sports courts, it can be used for helicopter landings and it is ideal for passenger flow.”

Looking forward, Bolidt has struck a range of new contracts, including the extension of its agreement with the shipyard Chantiers de l’Atlantique, for providing its decking to all cruise ships being built at the shipyard for the next four years. It is also providing decking for all the cruise ships being built at Meyer Werft. Current and recent projects include Icon class, the new Oasis-class ship and Carnival Celebration. The latter’s decking is “ultra-lightweight”, with Mr Van Overbeek commenting it was saving the ship up to 80,000 to 100,000 kg.

Bolidt is also providing the decking of the new Silverseas’ cruise ships, is working in Egypt on the Viking newbuilds and many more. “We are providing an increasing number of indoor decks,” comments Mr Van Overbeek.