Italy's Artigo has announced that it will use UPM BioMotion™ Renewable Functional Fillers (RFF) to produce its next generation flooring range from 2025.

By using UPM BioMotion's renewable filler, Artigo has achieved a carbon footprint reduction of up to 0.5 kg CO2 equivalent per square metre and managed to reduce the weight of the flooring per square metre by 5%.

UPM's RFFs are a carbon reduction solution for a wide range of rubber and plastics applications, containing 100% renewable carbon, certified by DIN CERTCO as coming from sustainably managed forests. They enable flooring manufacturers to increase the share of renewable materials in their products and reduce the use of traditional, highly CO2 intensive fillers (such as precipitated silica) and other fossil carbon-based raw materials, thus supporting carbon footprint improvements.

In addition, RFF offers the same technical performance as precipitated silica in improving the durability and resilience of flooring, with the advantage of a one-third weight reduction.

Michele Andolfo, COO of Artigo, commented, "UPM's innovative BioMotion™ Renewable Functional Fillers expand our opportunities to improve the sustainability and technical performance of Artigo and Mondo flooring by reducing the carbon dioxide footprint and enabling lightweighting. Both are key benefits in realising a product suited to contemporary building needs.

With the addition of UPM's RFF, Artigo will realise up to a 30% share of renewable content by total weight in its new products. Its flooring range incorporates post-industrial recycled and consumer recycled materials, as well as other renewable-based components and UPM's RFF, making Artigo a clear sustainability frontrunner.

UPM's BioMotion™ RFF is one of several CO2-negative solutions that UPM will produce at its Leuna plant.

The company is investing €1.18bn to build the world's first industrial-scale biorefinery in Leuna, which will transform sustainably sourced, certified hardwoods into next-generation biochemicals, enabling a significant shift from fossil-based to renewable materials across a range of industries.

The Leuna biorefinery is part of a broader growth area, UPM Biorefining, which is scaling up refineries to produce a variety of renewable fuels and chemicals made from sustainable biomass.