Using Recycled Materials for Your Terrazzo Floors 

Recycled materials for commercial or household flooring is not a new concept. Many owners of houses, cabins or other types of buildings will happily use recycled wood boards, recycled paving stones and even reuse old terracotta tiles for beautiful rustic effects that can last a long time. 

With Terrazzio, recycling is also not only possible—it's already a part of the process. Our tiles are made up of 20% or more recycled materials. What Terrazzio tiles also offer is a more robust design more durable than many alternative recycled flooring choices. They also let you explore some truly unique recycled materials as decorative options. Here's a real—and famous—example you might recognize. 

F.A.O Schwarz and the Movie "Big" 

If you've seen the 1988 Tom Hanks movie "Big", in which the actor plays the part of a young boy trapped in a grown man's body, then you've seen Terrazzio recycled materials floors. In one of the iconic scenes from the film, Hanks plays "Chop Sticks" on a giant piano keyboard laid out on the floor in the famous NYC toy store, F.A.O Schwartz. Well, that yellow terrazzo floor was composed of Terrazzio tiles filled with broken yellow buttons from New York City's garment district. 

Terrazzio tiles were specially manufactured with recycled materials for the first time ever for the toy store's flooring as a custom special order. F.A.O Schwartz was so dedicated to this specific recycling project that the toy store itself sent employees off to the NYC garment district to collect as many broken yellow buttons as they could find. The buttons were then sent to Terrazzio where they were incorporated into tiles made for the world-famous toy store. These tiles can be plainly seen in the movie. Check it out for yourself right HERE.  

These particular 2’ x 3’ tiles were made utilizing the buttons and white marble aggregate. Terrazzio manufactured the pieces in the Muscle Shoals of Alabama for F.A.O Schwartz one year before the movie was filmed in the NYC location, where all the film's toy store scenes were set. 

The Benefits of Recycled Terrazzio Flooring 

Moving on to today, Terrazzio makes 20% of each of its tiles from recycled content. By installing these in your own building or office flooring project, you become eligible for 2 Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification points from the U.S. Green Building Council. Accumulating LEED points not only helps your project create a lower carbon footprint, but there are a number of economic benefits including it increases your building’s value, is an appealing feature to tenants, and can help you save money. 

In other words, the benefits of installing Terrazzio tiles with recycled materials are both aesthetically pleasing and good for public relations. You can find out anything you'd like to know about highly durable custom or standard recycled materials tiles by contacting Terrazzio for more information at sales@terrazzio.com.