Vinyl Composition Tile
This information reflects our best understanding of product composition in 2015.
Vinyl Composition Tile (VCT) is a rigid floor tile widely used in commercial flooring applications and in small amounts residentially. VCT is commonly available as a 12 in x 12 in (305 mm x 305 mm) 1/8 in thick tile. VCT is composed largely of...
Vinyl Composition Tile (VCT) is a rigid floor tile widely used in commercial flooring applications and in small amounts residentially. VCT is commonly available as a 12 in x 12 in (305 mm x 305 mm) 1/8 in thick tile. VCT is composed largely of limestone with smaller proportions of vinyl resins, plasticizer, stabilizers, and pigments. These ingredients are mixed, heated, formed into a sheet, cut into tiles, and finally cooled before packaging. VCT typically has a factory applied acrylic finish to protect it through installation. Once installed, additonal layers of acrylic finish are added. Due to the small proportion of this finish within the overall product as manufacturered, this component is not included in this CP. Historically, phthalate plasticizers were commonly used in VCT. However, recently the market has phased out the use of phthalate plasticizers, making their non-phthalate alternatives more widely prevalent. VCT commonly contains some recycled content, typically at least 1% wt. of the finished product. This content may be post-industrial recyclate coming from other industries, post-consumer coming from manufacturer recycling programs or both. One manufacturer discussed the use of both recycle streams, while two others disclosed their recyclate as post-consumer VCT. This CP assumes a controlled recycle stream from post-consumer VCT, which replaces a portion of the limestone filler. This content introduces at minimum some residual phthalates while other recyclate streams, especially third party PVC scrap, could introduce multiple other hazardous residuals.