Carpet America Recovery Effort

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

/ Archives for CARE News

Record California Carpet Recycling Rate Reached in Q1 2022

The carpet recycling rate in California for Q1 2022 hit a record 34.1%. The 18.1 million pounds of recycled output represents a 13% increase over Q4 2021. Executive Director Bob Peoples noted, “With this 34% milestone, we are off to a good start in 2022. While we are concerned about certain economic trends and about ongoing impacts from the COVID epidemic, it is great to see our six-year growth trend continue for another quarter.” The target recycling rate for 2022 set by CARE’s Five-Year Plan is 26%.
At its 20th anniversary conference in May, CARE announced the availability of two commercially acceptable fiber identification devices. These devices are essential for the efficient sorting of carpet collected for recycling. This is a major development after the only active company exited the business last December.
View the full presentation:

Recycling Article Reaches Readers of 43 Media Outlets

article photoThe article, “4 Ways to Protect the Planet by Recycling Right,” a collaboration by CARE with three other product stewardship groups, was placed in 43 online media outlets across the state in April-May 2022. The article  (view in the Los Angeles Times here) makes the connection between recycling and mitigating climate change and gives basic instruction on how to recycle some tricky items: carpet, paint, mattresses and batteries, along with links to more information.

This is the second such “partner article’ the four product stewardship groups — CARE, PaintCare, Mattress Recycling Council and Call2Recycle — have worked on with a goal of raising awareness with the public that items like carpet, paint, mattresses and batteries can be recycled.

 

CARE Names 2021 Recyclers & Persons of the Year

Dalton, GA, May 3, 2022 – CARE announced winners of the Recycler and Person of the Year Awards for 2021 today in conjunction with the organization’s 20th Annual Conference in Minneapolis, MN. The 2021 Recyclers of the Year are Georgia Carpet Recovery Center (East Point, GA) and GreenWaste Carpet Recycling (San Jose, CA). The 2021 Persons of the Year are Nick Fiore of Circular Polymers (Lincoln, CA) and Kent Singleton of Georgia Carpet Recovery Center. Executive Director Bob Peoples noted, “This year’s award winners have demonstrated true commitment in the face of relentless challenges. And many of those challenges continue to evolve today.”

 

2021 Recyclers of the Year:

Georgia Carpet Recovery Center
Founded by Amir Sahebivani in 1995, Georgia Carpet Recovery Center has been actively reducing landfill by providing cost-effective, environmentally-sound carpet and pad recycling services since 1995. In 2018 alone, the facility processed more than 18 million pounds of post-consumer carpet and carpet pad. “Georgia Carpet Recovery Center brought vital services to the heartland of the carpet recycling industry,” stated Bob Peoples. “They have evolved and adapted over the last 20 years to stay in business and exhibit the true entrepreneurial spirt on which this country is built.”

 

Wes Nelson of GreenWaste accepting award
Wes Nelson accepting for GreenWaste Carpet Recycling

GreenWaste Carpet Recycling

GreenWaste Recovery opened GreenWaste Carpet Recycling in 2012 to collect, analyze, sort and process post-consumer carpeting, foam carpet padding, commercial broadloom carpet and carpet tiles throughout Northern California. “GreenWaste Carpet Recycling is a vital partner to the California Carpet Stewardship Program,” said Bob Peoples. “Their state-of-the-art handling facility supports the aggressive growth we need to continue expanding this Program. The discipline they bring as a large player in the recycling, composting, and collection system are a critical contributor for support to the carpet recycling community.”

 

2021 Persons of the Year:

Nick Fiore of Circular Polymers accepting Person of the Year 2021

Nick Fiore is president of 2019 Recycler of the Year, Circular Polymers. Nick has been an active member of the carpet industry since 1997. He developed and evolved many carpet recycling technologies to explore best practices. As an entrepreneur and financier, Nick has owned and operated five carpet recycling facilities. Prior to carpet recycling, Nick owned and operated 2pl logistics companies. Nick leads Circular Polymers in their mission to revolutionize the post-consumer carpet recycling industry. He is an active member of CARE. “Nick brings a wealth of financial and logistical experience to the management team at Circular Polymers,” said Bob Peoples. “Under his watchful eye, Circular Polymers is the fastest growing carpet recycler in North America, bringing needed innovation to the challenges faced by this industry.”

 

Kent Singleton
Kent Singleton retired from General Motors in September 2006 after 32 years of service. He then joined Georgia Carpet Processing (later Georgia Carpet Recovery Center) with a mission to improve output and reduce the ash content from 15 percent. The production goals were achieved quickly, but it took over two years to reduce the ash content to less than 5 percent. Bob Peoples noted, “Kent demonstrates the true grit of an American entrepreneur. Under relentless pressure, he has steered his company through major market upheaval. Times are tough for carpet recycling and Kent has found innovation ways to keep the mission alive.”

Marketing, Education & Outreach RFP for California Program Posted

The California Carpet Stewardship Program of CARE is soliciting two-year proposals for marketing, education, and outreach professional services to help CARE achieve meaningful progress toward the goal of increasing carpet recycling in the state of California. A successful contractor will be innovative and flexible in engaging and supporting carpet recycling stakeholders, partners, and their public audience. The proposal is open to California-based private corporations, small businesses, and non-profit organizations.

The selected contractor will undertake education and outreach efforts to support the overall Program goals. These activities include both planned and timed outreach as well as opportunistic outreach as information and events require. Audiences include retailers, installers, drop-off sites, local government, current and potential grantees, Collector/Sorters, Processors, Manufacturers, Carpet Mills, events, and consumers.

Proposals are due May 31, 2022, with work starting January 3, 2023.

See the full Request for Proposals here.

Installer Training Video Unveiled

Flooring contractors are a vital part of the carpet recycling ecosystem.  CARE is partnering with International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) District Council 16 (DC 16 in northern California) and District Council 36 (DC 36 in southern California) to incorporate carpet recycling information in their trainings.

 CARE has been working with DC 16 and DC 36 to create and implement a training program for apprentice and journeymen flooring contractors. To supplement in-person training of apprentices, CARE has created a video that reinforces the reasons for recycling, explains the recycling process and the role that installers/contractors play, and shows what recycled carpet becomes:

Union trainees are given a quiz following their training to reinforce the video’s messages.

 If you would like more information about flooring contractor training, contact CARE (CA@carpetrecovery.org).

 

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