'Our showroom sometimes looks like a clubhouse'

About a year and a half ago, EPI Group chose to open its doors to everyone. Applicators, project designers and architects as well as consumers are welcome to visit the 'EPI Experience' showroom in Houten. This showroom of almost 400 square meters is adjacent to the plastic cast flooring manufacturer's factory and the company uses that space to provide everyone with advice. "We would like to provide everyone with the right information, which can be general but also on a design or technical level," explains director Sander Egels.

This has worked out well, he has since noticed. "It's a coming and going of people here; our showroom then seems like a clubhouse. That's only a good thing, I think. Our goal is no longer only that the companies we work directly with are satisfied with our product, but above all that the end customer is satisfied with the result. We produce the flooring systems, but we don't lay them. That's why we like to consult with the applicators. We notice that our industry is also becoming more open in this."

Innovate

At EPI Group, sustainability takes an important role. Seven of a total of 50 employees work in the laboratory to come up with sustainable novelties. This has led, among other things, to EPI Gusto Floor, a plastic molding floor that features biological polymers and natural fillers in addition to mineral decorative fillers. "Another novelty is the EPI Corestone floor, which looks like a concrete floor but does not have its disadvantages such as fast cracking and difficult to maintain," Egels says. "Both types of floors are part of our designer floors, a category that is currently in very high demand. This is mainly due to the terrazzo look."

In the coming period, the company will focus mainly on recycling. For example, EPI Group has a desire to add powdered recycled plastic to new plastic molding floors. "In addition, we are working with partner companies on systems to decouple our floors so that they can be recycled. In terms of recycling, our range of sports flooring systems is sustainable anyway: for this we use old car tires as a base."