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Carpet manufacturer Bremworth is putting up a 30% subsidy for wool carpets in classrooms for schools uneasy with the government’s offer of synthetic flooring.
The move follows the plan from the Ministry of Education to install almost $8 million of nylon carpet in up to 760 small or rural schools around the country.
Under the ministry’s Nga iti Kahurangi proposal, the synthetic flooring would be supplied from Milliken Group, an United States-based company.
This has upset farmers arguing the government proposal runs contrary to sustainability and protecting the planet efforts.
Bremworth said its initiative was launched after reports that schools unhappy with the nylon proposal were turning to community fundraising to pay for woollen carpets.
Schools can apply for the subsidy on at least 30% of their flooring which works out to savings of more than $10,000 for 400sq m of carpet.
Bremworth chief executive Greg Smith said the decision to use petrochemical-based carpet fibre flew in the face of the government’s commitment to reduce plastic.
He said it was ironic the company had won export contracts in Australia for wool carpet in schools.
"Unlike most other commercial settings, what we know about schools is that the students tend to spend a lot of time sitting on the floor.
"We believe in creating the optimal environment for learning and their comfort is a significant part of this."
Rotherham School principal Cheryl Barbara said the ministry’s offer to provide synthetic carpet was inconsistent with the sustainability doctrine the government wanted taught to students,
She said it was "highly offensive" to the rural sector.
"We are told to teach the kids about sustainability, yet the government isn’t actually practising what they preach.
"It's beyond belief that they are stipulating imported synthetic carpets in rural schools when we are a wool-producing nation, particularly as larger urban schools have the option to install carpets of their choice."
Rotherham School was looking to fundraise for wool carpet before the Bremworth offer.
The New Zealand Merino Company market development manager Hadleigh Smith said many of its farmers were disillusioned by the ministry decision and frustrated by lacklustre explanations.
"It’s no secret that wool growers are struggling and this decision hit close to home. They don’t want their kids sitting on plastic when they could just as easily be sitting on fibre grown in their own backyard."
