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Environmentally Friendly Carpet

CARE: Giving the Carpet Industry
Something to Talk About

Just a few short years ago — 2002 to be exact — there was virtually no effort to keep used carpet from going into landfills. The approximately 5-billion pounds that gets disposed of each year was a challenge the industry decided to tackle.

It responded to that challenge with a Memo of Understanding (MOU) signed by members of the carpet industry, representatives of government agencies at the federal, state and local levels, and non-governmental organizations. As a result, the Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) was born. CARE’s progress is significant in the face of a daunting task: reduce the amount of carpet going to landfill by 40 percent by 2012.

While it sounds simple, keeping carpet out of the landfill is actually a complex task that requires multiple players. Used carpet has to be collected from thousands of locations. The collected carpet then has to be sorted, which is neither easy nor cheap. There has to be some outlet for the used carpet, which requires finding existing products and developing new ones. Finally, the carpet has to get where it needs to go. Lastly, the whole process has to make economic sense.

CARE is currently in the middle of an independent assessment program required by the original MOU in which all participants chime in. Bob Peoples, executive director of CARE, said the results will be out in December. In the meantime, stakeholders are very impressed with CARE’s achievements, including:

• 261 million pounds kept from landfill in 2006
• 92 percent recycled vs. 85 percent in 2005
• Cumulative diversion at 3/4 billion pounds and likely to hit 1 billion this year.

The carpet industry has invested more than $350 million over the past decade in new technologies, products and equipment to address carpet reclamation, Peoples said. "The carpet industry is building a brand new industry in the U.S.," he added.

Ron Greitzer, president, LA Fiber and Reliance Carpet Cushion, is one of the recyclers making the process work. He is pleased with the support his company has received from CARE and the carpet mills that fund it. What the effort needs now are more end uses. "The biggest challenge is sales, sales, sales," Greitzer said. "Collecting carpet is challenging, but with an organized approach, it can be logistically managed. We are now receiving post-consumer carpet at a level of 100 million pounds per year.

"However, what good is diverting waste to our site if we cannot sell the sorted carpet, processed fiber and/or synthetic fiber felt cushion?" Greitzer asked. "We need the retailers, the generators of waste carpet, to aggressively sell products with post-consumer carpet content. We need state or federal governments to give priority to products that contain post-consumer content."

Greitzer and Peoples both pointed to Shaw Industries’ purchase and subsequent restart of the Evergreen Nylon 6 recycling facility in Augusta, Ga., as a major boost for the organization’s efforts this year. Greitzer called it the "single biggest positive factor helping the collection effort."

John Bradshaw, Shaw’s environmental market manager, was originally tasked with helping set up the collection system. It’s changing all the time, Bradshaw said, evolving in major markets to focus on carpet pad recyclers to collect carpet as well. "They know where the flooring is," Bradshaw said. "For Evergreen to do its thing, we need a continuous stream of waste carpet." CARE, he added, has been an invaluable resource for developing end uses and identifying sources.

Shaw’s effort is not without its challenges. Shaw only really wants type 6 nylon, but the industry collects about 1.5 pounds of type 6,6 (more difficult to recycle but that is changing, see story below) for every pound of type 6. Shaw has been buying type 6,6 to help keep the collection infrastructure healthy. Mohawk Industries recently opened its Greenworks Recycling facility (FCW, Aug. 20/27) and is able to recycle type 6,6.

Polypropylene fiber has ready outlets for recycling but polyester does not, Bradshaw said. And that fiber has been growing in market share in the residential business.

Green is a growing part of the total industry today, Bradshaw said. "I am amazed at the number of dealers saying customers are asking for green products," he said. In no small part due to CARE, the industry has something to talk about.

To those who would say the industry isn’t doing enough, Peoples said, "How many other industries can say they have a VOC program in place, let alone one of the toughest in the nation? How many industries can say they have a growing collection infrastructure in place to manage the end-of-life challenges of their products? How many industries have a comprehensive green product standard, developed under a consensus process and independently certified? While many can say they are working on it, few can measure up against the benchmarks set by the U.S. carpet industry."

Interface/Universal team up to recycle nylon 6,6

Nylon 6,6 is a top-notch carpet fiber, particularly from a performance standpoint. But those same qualities that make it such a great fiber also make it difficult to recycle. InterfaceFLOR and Universal Fibers this summer announced breakthrough technology that makes it possible.

LaGrange, Ga.-based InterfaceFLOR previewed new products at NeoCon made from post-consumer recycled nylon 6,6. The feat involves a partnership with an Italian-American firm that developed the technology.

"One technological hurdle the industry has faced is the ability to separate carpet face fiber from backing in a way that preserves the materials in a pure enough form for recycling," said David Hobbs, president, InterfaceFLOR Commercial.

The company, Post Consumer Carpet Processing Technologies, developed the process and is working with Universal to reclaim type 6,6 fiber for InterfaceFLOR. Vinyl backing will be recycled into backing. Other face fiber materials — nylon 6, polyester or polypropylene — will go to other uses.

"This is another step forward in our ongoing commitment to developing innovative products for the marketplace," said Bill Goodman, vice president of sales and marketing for Universal. "We are determined to reduce our carpet footprint on the environment."

The first collection using the recycled fiber is called ReEntropy and reflects the next step in the company’s Entropy line: a non-directional pattern philosophy that reduces installation and waste.

InterfaceFLOR estimates that this new technology will allow it to divert 30 million pounds of carpet from landfills. The company has already reclaimed 84 million pounds of carpet through its ReEntry Carpet Reclamation program. InterfaceFLOR said it’s no longer limited by fiber. "If you’re not using your carpet anymore, even if you’re not buying ours, we want it back from you to recycle the components," Hobbs said.