Carpet America Recovery Effort

Developing Market Based Solutions for the Recycling & Reuse of Post-Consumer Carpet

/ Archives for California

How Is the California Carpet Assessment Used?

CARE administers the California Carpet Stewardship Program, which is charged with meeting the requirements for carpet recycling set by the California law AB 2398 (modified in 2017 by AB 1158) and managed by CalRecycle.

AB 2398 is designed to find ways to incentivize the growth of carpet reclamation and recycling and still allow the market to work. The law generates funding to meet its stated goals through an assessment of 25 cents per square yard (increasing to 35 cents on January 1, 2019) of carpet sold in California. California consumers pay the assessment when they buy carpet. Those monies then support CARE’s efforts to increase carpet recycling in California.

CARE’s goal is to have convenient sites where carpet is dropped off for recycling across the state.

The California Carpet Stewardship Program is working to comply with all statutory and regulatory requirements, which include:

  • Payment of subsidies at a level to enable continuous and meaningful improvement in landfill diversion via carpet collections and recycling (recycled output)
  • Convenient locations for recycling drop off/pick up for all California residents.
  • Attaining a 24% recycled output rate by January 1, 2020.
  • Public outreach and education.

Funding Areas

how assessment funding is used pie chart
Over 85% of assessment funds collected support subsidies, grants, outreach and technical assistance.

The funding collected from the assessment is directed to:

  • Ongoing subsidies to carpet recyclers and processors, in support of the carpet recycling industry and manufacturing of products made from recycled carpet The subsidies help support capital investments in recycling equipment, materials testing and product development — especially in light of the impacts from China’s National Sword on recycling markets overall.
  • Grant funding — CARE has awarded $2.3 million to date for capital investment, product testing, market development and collection projects to establish and expand recycling of California post-consumer carpet. Approximately 90% of those funds were awarded to California-based projects. An additional $5 million in capital investment, new product testing, and collection projects is slated for 2018-19.
  • Developing new California-generated post-consumer carpet (PCC) content products, expanding California processing and manufacturing capacity, and encouraging procurement of California PCC-content products by private and government entities.
  • Expansion of the carpet drop-off site program, with a goal of establishing at least one site in every county in California.
  • Continuing education/outreach efforts to carpet retailers, installers, manufacturers and consumers to encourage carpet recycling.

In 2017, over 85% of assessment funds went directly to these program efforts, including subsidies, grants, marketing/outreach and the drop-off site program. As CARE’s efforts grow, so does the need for funding.

PCC productsMarket Development Is Key

Developing demand recycled post-consumer carpet is key to increasing the recycling rate. The California Carpet Stewardship Program is working to develop markets for recycled post-consumer carpet via grants, technical assistance and promotion. Post-consumer carpet is recycled into fiber material, plastic pellets and calcium carbonate-based filler, which are used in a broad range of products, including carpet, underlayment, commercial mats, insulation and more.

Products containing California-sourced post-consumer carpet are high quality and competitively priced, and contribute to earning credits on LEED projects, among other environmental credentials. Our product catalog also contains information on other relevant product specifications.

Learn more:

Subsidies

Post-Consumer Carpet-Derived Products

Grants

Drop-off Sites

Retailers

Flooring Installers

How Consumers Can Help

Carpet Stewardship Five-Year Plan Conditionally Approved by CalRecycle

October 17, 2018 – California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) Director Scott Smithline yesterday conditionally approved the most recent Five-Year Plan submitted by Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE.) CARE has 60 days to submit a revised Plan that meets the stated conditions. Conditions to be completed by September 1, 2019 for Plan approval include:

  • Conducting an independent, detailed economic analysis;
  • Providing an additional level of transparency regarding CARE’s economic analysis, including goals consistent with the results of CARE’s convenient collection study;
  • Establishing minimum weight of post-consumer carpet content that a product must contain; and
  • Developing and implementing Agreed Upon Procedures for carpet reuse.

The Plan’s conditional approval means that CARE will continue as the carpet stewardship organization for California until further notice, and will work to meet the goals of legislation (AB 2398 and AB 1158) to reduce the amount of carpet going to landfill and to create a market for recycled carpet material. The approval also immediately releases grant funding for California-based recyclers. CalRecycle’s Request for Approval can be seen here.

“This is great news,” said CARE Executive Director Robert Peoples. “Plan approval means we can continue to support the carpet recycling industry in California in order to keep more carpet out of landfill, create jobs and promote more products made with recycled carpet. We look forward to continuing subsidies to carpet recyclers, providing convenient carpet collection sites across the state, and educating retailers, installers, local government and consumers on the process and benefits of recycling. We will continue to work closely with CalRecycle to ensure that their conditions are met and that  we meet or exceed the 24% carpet recycling rate goal by January 1, 2020.

Like many textiles, carpet is made of petroleum-based material. Currently, more than 340 million pounds of used carpet are discarded in California landfills each year. Recovered carpet can be used to manufacture new carpet fiber, building and construction materials and products for the consumer and automotive industries, among other uses. The California Carpet Stewardship Program is funded by an assessment on all carpet sold in California. That assessment amount increases to $0.35 per square yard on January 1, 2019, up from the current $0.25 per square yard.

Signed into law on September 30, 2010, AB 2398 was the first product stewardship law in the country to specifically address carpet.  CARE was named the California Carpet Stewardship Organization in 2011. CARE’s California program provides subsidies and grants to recyclers to support collection, equipment and product testing, along with extensive installer and retailer outreach and consumer and local government education efforts. After five years of work on the Program, CARE submitted a second Five-Year Plan to CalRecycle in October 2016, with revised versions in March and August of this year.

“Getting Plan approval, even conditional approval, was arduous, but we know that CalRecycle’s feedback and continued cooperation helped this Plan meet the needs of the state and for the industry,” noted Peoples. “We were further assisted by the California Carpet Stewardship Advisory Council and the new Advisory Committee — groups of stakeholders that provided invaluable guidance.”


About CARE

Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) is a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the landfill diversion, reuse and recycling of post-consumer carpet through market-based solutions that benefit the economy as well as the environment. Since 2002, CARE has diverted more than 4.6 billion pounds of carpet from landfills in the United States, including over 500 million pounds from California landfills, promoted the use and development of products containing materials derived from carpet. CARE members include independent carpet recyclers, carpet manufacturers, dealers, retailers, suppliers and non-governmental organizations. Since 2011 the California Carpet Stewardship Program has been engaged with increasing carpet diversion and recycling and supporting new markets for recycled post-consumer carpet products in accordance with state law AB 2398. CARE has been the state’s designated Carpet Stewardship Organization since the law went into effect.

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California Carpet Stewardship Assessment to Increase on January 1, 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 3, 2018 — Sacramento, CA-The Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) has announced an updated assessment fee of 35 cents per square yard on all carpet sold or shipped in California, effective January 1, 2019. The rate is an increase from the previous assessment of 25 cents per square yard, set in January 2017. The assessment is collected by the retailer from the consumer, and is then remitted to CARE by way of the carpet manufacturers.

The increase will be confirmed if the Program’s 2018-2022 Plan is approved by CalRecycle, which administers the California Carpet Stewardship Program, at their October 16, 2018 public meeting.

“This is the only planned increase in the assessment included in our recently-submitted 5 Year Plan,” noted CARE Executive Director Robert Peoples. “Should further adjustments be necessary during this time period, CARE will notify retailers as early as possible, with at least 90 days’ notice. CARE is working diligently to increase carpet collection and recycling opportunities, while supporting the recycling infrastructure in the state. We are confident that the Plan will allow us to meet or exceed the required 24% statutory recycling rate as of January 1, 2020.” CARE is continuing to operate under the CARE 2011-2016 Plan and CalRecycle has approved CARE’s request to move forward with notification regarding an assessment increase that will be effective January 1, 2019.”

The assessment funds support the following efforts:

  • Ongoing subsidies to carpet recyclers and processors, in support of the carpet recycling industry and manufacturing of products made from recycled carpet. The subsidies help support capital investments in recycling equipment, materials testing and product development – especially in light of the impacts from China’s National Sword on recycling markets overall.
  • CARE has awarded $2.3 million in grant funding for capital investment, product testing and market development, and collections projects to establish and expand recycling of California post-consumer carpet. Approximately 90% of those funds were awarded to California-based projects. CARE has approved an additional $5 million in capital investment, new product testing, and collections projects for 2018-19.
  • Developing new California-generated post-consumer carpet (PCC) content products, expanding California processing and manufacturing capacity, and encouraging procurement of California PCC-content products by private and government entities.
  • Expansion of the carpet public drop-off site program, with a goal of establishing at least one site in every county in California.
  • Continuing education/outreach efforts to carpet retailers, installers, manufacturers and consumers to encourage carpet recycling.

Since July 1, 2011, all California carpet manufacturers and retailers have been required under carpet stewardship law AB 2398 to add an assessment fee onto all carpet sold in the state. The law is designed to increase landfill diversion and recycling of post-consumer carpet generated in California. CARE administers the California Carpet Stewardship Program, which is charged with meeting the requirements for carpet recycling set by AB 2398 and new requirements under AB 1158 that went into effect January 2018. In 2017 alone, 98 million pounds of carpet was diverted from the California waste stream through the efforts of retailers, installers, manufacturers, recyclers and the California Carpet Stewardship Program. Since the program started in July 2011, CARE recyclers have kept more than 285,000,000 pounds of old carpet out of California landfills.

The CARE website offers support and resources for retailers, including email notifications and a 30-minute informational webinar on the assessment on Thursday, November 8, at 1:00 p.m. PST. Register here. For more information, visit the CARE website.

 

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California Carpet Stewardship Program Releases 2017 Annual Report

The California Carpet Stewardship Program has released its 2017 Annual Report after submitting it to CalRecycle on September 1st. Highlights from the sixth year of the Program include:

  • The recycled output rate (aka “recycling rate”) increased from 11% in 2016 to 14% in 2017, a 29% increase.
  • Post-Consumer Carpet Calcium Carbonate (PC4) use in recycled products expanded to over 10.5 million pounds, reaching 22% of total recycled output in 2017, an annual increase of 337%. (See more about recycled carpet-derived products.)
  • The number of Program-supported public collection increased to 44 sites servicing 41 counties, up from 33 sites in 33 counties in 2016. (See public drop-off sites map.)
  • Yield (percent of gross collections converted into recycled output) reached its highest level in 2017 at 48%, compared to a 5-year historical average of 34% from 2011-2016.

The assessment increase to 25 cents on January 1, 2017 allowed the Program to enact short- and long-term strategies, including:

  • Adding a suite of collector/sorter entrepreneur (CSE), Tier-1 processor, and Tier-2 manufacturer subsidies, and modifying others.
  • Launching a new pilot Tier-2 nylon 6 subsidy of $0.10/lb. for recycled products made from Type 1 nylon 6 recycled output in October 2017.
  • Expanding budgets for collection site support and outreach and education.
  • Developing economic models for analyzing ‘what if’ scenarios: economic, financial, cost conversion.

While several declining metrics are noted, overall Program progress is moving in a positive direction as recycled output pounds reached their highest levels since the Program began. Moving forward, the California Program will continue to partner with its stakeholders to find new ways to stimulate the industry in both the short and long term to increase collection, processing capacity and manufacturing presence in California, while promoting carpet recycling across the state.

See the 2017 California Carpet Stewardship Program Annual Report.

 

 

Convenient Collection Study for Carpet Recycling Underway

As of December 2017, CARE estimates there are approximately 204 private service and public drop-off sites for carpet in California. Preliminary analysis of sites operating at the close of 2017 shows that 95% of the state’s population lives within a county with access to one or more private or public carpet recycling sites, providing an average of one site per 186,000 people. Twelve counties have five or more sites, six counties have ten or more sites, and two have more than twenty-five sites.

To better understand the issues around collection and to set further goals, a convenience study is currently underway and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2018. Cascadia Consulting reported on the study process and interim findings at the California Resource Recovery Association conference on July 29. See presentation below.

 

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