Status of the industry:

The problem:

The technology to recycle all types of carpet is simply not available today. Carpet is the number 2 landfill filler in the world, next to diapers. Did you know that over 4 billion pounds of carpet is sent to landfill every year? Carpet recycling is only a 5-year-old industry and in the last five years (according to CARE), the industry has only been able to process 745 million pounds, or an average of 149 million pounds per year. That means that only about 3.3% of all carpet being sent to landfill is diverted in some way. However, we all have to start somewhere and tremendous strides are being made by the carpet industry to deal with this huge issue. New technology is being invented every month that helps with recycling carpet.

That is why Texas Carpet Recycling (TCR) is a landfill alternative. Today, the only carpet products that can be truly recycled (deconstructed and made into new products) are PVC–backed carpet tile and nylon 6 broadloom. There is technology coming soon that will allow us to recycle nylon 6.6 so we are currently preparing for that. Most carpet pads can be recycled as well. PPE and other carpet fibers are still in the experimental mode of recycling and these producers can only absorb a small fraction of the old carpet … not nearly enough to make a difference.

Some carpet can be reused or donated to charitable organizations depending on its condition. All other carpet is collected and sent to cement kilns to burn as alternative fuel. Cement kilns burn at over 2000 degrees and burn cleaner than any other method of incineration. Plus, instead of burning coal and wood, carpet provides a very good fuel source.

1/1/08

Read the CARE 2006 Annual Report!
Currently, the carpet mills that are truly recycling old carpet into new carpet in significant quantities are the following:

Shaw		Broadloom with nylon 6.0 fiber and Ecoworks carpet tile only.
Interface		PVC backed carpet tile only.
Tandus		PVC backed carpet tile only.
Mohawk		Currently working on a technology that will recycle broadloom with nylon 6.6 fiber but this is not yet in production.

All mills offer some sort of carpet reclamation program these days but they are limited on what they can accept, the carpet goes through centers like ours anyway and the cost structure is typically higher.

Call 817–552–1011 today for advice on what to do with your old carpet and how we can help keep our environment clean and healthy.