California Carpet Stewardship Program Advisory Committee Appointed

UPDATED December 22, 2017

In December 2017 CalRecycle Director Scott Smithline was presented with suggested appointments to the new Carpet Stewardship Program Advisory Committee. The Committee is being formed as a requirement of the recently-passed AB 1158, and will serve to review stewardship organization plans, amendments and annual reports. CARE is required to incorporate or respond to Advisory Committee comments. On December 22, following the CalRecycle Public Meeting on December 19, Director Smithline approved the slate of names below.

In October 2017, AB 1158 (Carpet Recycling, Chapter 794, Statutes of 2017) was signed into law, which makes changes to the Product Stewardship for Carpets Law that will become effective January 1, 2018. Some of the key elements of AB 1158 include:

• The establishment of a recycling rate goal of 24% by January 1, 2020;
• The authority for CalRecycle to establish additional recycling rate and program goals and request information in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the program;
• The requirement that post- consumer carpet removed from state buildings be managed in a manner consistent with the law and revisions to state procurement manuals to require post-consumer content for carpet purchases
• The requirement that the director of CalRecycle appoints members to an Advisory Committee to make recommendations on carpet stewardship plans, plan amendments, and annual reports

The approved Committee members are:

1. Brent Whitener, Humboldt Waste Management Authority
2. Doug Kobold, Sacramento County Department of Waste Management and Recycling
3. Douglas Williams, Los Angeles Fiber Co.
4. Eric Nelson, Interface
5. Franco Rossi, Aquafil USA
6. Gail Brice, XT Green
7. Howard Sapper, Carpet Manufacturers Warehouse
8. Joanne Brasch, California Product Stewardship Council
9. Joe Yarbrough, The Carpet and Rug Institute
10. John Davis, Mojave Desert …
11. Kelly McBee, Californians Against Waste
12. Rachel Palopoli, Planet Recycling
13. Steve Belong, Carpet, Linoleum & Soft Tile Workers Local Union No. 12 District Council 16
14. Wes Nelson, GreenWaste Carpet Recycling
15. Speaker of the Assembly Appointee
16. Senate Committee on Rules Appointee

Committee members are not compensated. The Committee’s first meeting is expected to take place in early January 2018. The full Advisory Committee Request for Approval is on CalRecycle’s website.