Bremworth has launched an initiative to help small and rural schools around New Zealand access wool carpet.
Bremworth has launched an initiative to help small and rural schools around New Zealand access wool carpet.
Thousands of students are set to benefit from an initiative designed to make it easier for schools to access New Zealand wool carpets for their classrooms, says Bremworth.
The move follows the plan from the Ministry of Education to install almost $8 million worth of nylon carpet, made from petroleum-derived plastic, from Milliken Group, an American-based company.
The synthetic carpet was to be installed in up to 760 small or rural schools around the country.
The Bremworth Wool in Education Initiative was launched following reports schools were unhappy with the Ministry’s Nga iti Kahurangi proposal and were instead turning to community fundraising to pay for woollen carpet - rather than accepting the free synthetic alternative.
Under the programme, schools that are due to replace their existing flooring can apply to carpet manufacturer Bremworth for a product subsidy equivalent to at least 30 per cent of their flooring needs to help make wool carpet more accessible to New Zealand schools.
For a school requiring 400 sqm of carpet, this would equate to savings of over $10,000 - according to figures based on broadloom direct stick wool carpet, supplied directly to the school by Bremworth.
Cheryl Barbara, principal of Rotherham School in North Canterbury, said the Ministry of Education’s offer to provide synthetic carpet was inconsistent with the sustainability doctrine the Government wants to be taught to students and was insulting to the rural sector.
“We are told to teach the kids about sustainability, yet the Government isn’t actually practising what they preach,” she said.
“It’s beyond belief that they are stipulating imported synthetic carpets in rural schools when we are a wool-producing nation - particularly as larger urban schools have the option to install carpets of their choice.”
Barbara said the move went against the school’s “rural values” and was “highly offensive” to its wider farming community “which has been struggling over the past few years”.
She said Rotherham School was one of 10 pilot schools to be fast-tracked through the new renovation programme, which also included lighting and acoustic upgrades.
“However, the Ministry has told other rural principals if they refuse the synthetic tiles they cannot access this proportion of the funding to use for wool carpet.”
Rural schools were all about supporting their local community, she said.
“I don’t think there would be any rural school in New Zealand that would want to be using plastic carpet, to be honest.”
Barbara said the school aimed to pay for the wool carpet from fundraising done throughout the year, including the North Canterbury Hunting Competition, selling corn, and the Amuri Rogaine event.
In July, Ministry of Education leader infrastructure and digital, Scott Evans, told the Otago Daily Times that Milliken’s carpet tiles were fully recyclable; and that recycling was an important requirement in the ministry’s specifications.
“When evaluating the tenders, we also considered health and safety and fire retardancy. It is crucial that any flooring installed in a school environment meets the fire-testing standards of the New Zealand Building Code,” Evans said in a statement.
“According to the tender documents, the chosen carpet tiles have been tested for critical radiant flux and meet the fire requirements of the New Zealand Building Code for education buildings.”
Solution-dyed nylon met the Ministry’s product requirements and fulfilled its recycling and carbon footprint goals. It was also a more cost-effective use of public funds, he said.
Meanwhile, Bremworth’s chief executive Greg Smith, said the Government’s decision to use petrochemical-based carpet fibre “flies in the face” of its commitment to reduce the amount of plastic in Kiwis’ lives.
Bremworth chief executive Greg Smith.
He said Bremworth had won export contracts in Australia that specified wool carpet in schools but had found less support for the product in the New Zealand education sector.
“New Zealand wool carpet has a history of performing for decades in Australasian schools prior to the introduction of imported synthetic alternatives.
“What is needed now is for the Ministry to amend their current offer to allow schools to take the cash equivalent of the plastic tiles, which they can then put towards wool carpet.”
Hadleigh Smith, market development manager at The New Zealand Merino Company (NZM) said many of its growers were disillusioned by the Ministry’s decision and frustrated at lacklustre explanations after the programme was publicised.
