The first mineral ceiling tile to win Silver Cradle to Cradle status is manufactured by Armstrong..

Just six months after one of its mineral fibre tiles became the first in the world to be granted basic Cradle to Cradle® certification, Armstrong Ceilings has gone one better.

Not content to rest on its laurels, Armstrong’s Perla OP 0.95 tile, which contains 53% recycled content and is 100% recyclable, is now accredited to Silver status. In addition to this, it performs acoustically to Sound Absorption Class A and is highly light reflective (85%), being available in Board, Tegular, MicroLook and SL2 edges.

Cradle to Cradle products are assessed on five criteria – material health, material re-utilisation, renewable energy and carbon management, water stewardship and social responsibility – and awarded one of four levels of certification, from basic through to platinum.

The Cradle to Cradle philosophy differs from other sustainable certifications in that the process begins even before a product is manufactured. Products are developed specifically for closed loop systems in which every ingredient is not only safe but beneficial, capable of either biodegrading naturally and restoring the soil or to be fully recycled into high-quality materials for subsequent product generations, again and again.

The programme was developed to meet growing customer demand for sustainable products, with certification already becoming a requirement for building projects in America and parts of Europe.

It is designed to give specifiers and clients a transparent mechanism to compare the sustainability performance of competitive products.

As part of its Cradle to Cradle commitment, Armstrong is proud to be a participant of the Pavilions at Park 2020, a Cradle to Cradle inspired working environment. Built alongside Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, it includes the experience centre, a meeting point of know-how and skills that acts as a Cradle to Cradle showcase.

Armstrong’s senior segment manager, sustainability (Europe, Africa and Middle East) Jeremy Sumeray said: “To maintain involvement in the C2C programme we must demonstrate continued progress towards the ultimate goals and winning Silver accreditation is sure sign we are achieving that.”