Carpet America Recovery Effort
Developing Market Based Solutions for the Recycling & Reuse of Post-Consumer Carpet
CalRecycle has disapproved CARE’s Five Year Plan 2023-27 as submitted in September. As a result of this:
The Carpet Differential Assessment increase scheduled for January 1, 2023 will NOT take place. The current assessment levels will remain in effect until further notice.
CARE will submit a revised Plan to CalRecycle in mid-January. We will communicate further when we know more. See also the Differential Assessment page.
CARE introduced micro grants ($15,000 each) in 2017 in order to promote the additional* collection and reuse of California post-consumer carpet (PCC). Micro grants are awarded for infrastructure projects and/or purchase of equipment that supports the operational logistics of properly collecting and/or reusing California PCC.
Five grants awarded in 2021’s Cycle 4 demonstrate the positive impact of relatively small grants on the larger carpet recycling ecosystem. Funds were used for containers, machinery and a cement pad, all of which allowed businesses to collect more carpet so that it could be recycled. Together, these five grants led to nearly 2 million additional pounds of carpet collected in the first year of operations:
For collection containers to provide on-site service to carpet retailers and other flooring stores who wish to source separate PCC for recycling.
Funds paid for a tile weighing and wrapping machine that allows union-based installers and trainers to stack, strap and wrap post-consumer carpet tile for recycling or reuse. The machine also weighs material to provide the construction industry with proof of recycling.
Funds were awarded for collection containers to provide on-site service to carpet retailers and other flooring stores who wish to source separate PCC for recycling.
Funds were allocated for a cement pad to keep PCC clean and dry for recycling at this new public drop-off site. Rivera’s also has plans to construct a weather cover.
This grant funded the construction of three large containers for collection of PCC at a regional distribution center for carpet in Southern California. The PCC is then hauled to a processor for recycling.
As of Fall 2022, 32 micro grants totaling $430,000 have been awarded by CARE since 2017, resulting in the collection of approximately 11 million additional pounds of carpet per year.
CARE expects to continue micro grant cycles for the foreseeable future. Retailers, haulers and other businesses involved in collecting carpet for recycling or reuse are encouraged to apply.
For latest details, see CarpetRecovery.org/CA-Grants
* The definition of “additional” under this program is PCC that was previously sent to landfill, alternative daily cover, waste-to-energy, kiln or used for carpet-as-alternative-fuel.
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CARE is operating under increasingly ambitious goals for carpet recycling, making it more complicated to capture and recycle as much carpet as feasible. Residential carpeting makes up about 70% of all the carpet discarded in California, and up until now it has accounted for almost all of the carpet that was recycled. Residential carpet has more high-value face fiber and similar backing across product lines, so recyclers focused on residential as the “low hanging fruit” that gave the most value with less effort. Commercial broadloom and carpet tile make up about 30% of discarded carpet in California. Yet because of its wide range of composition and less face fiber, most commercial carpet collected was not being recycled until recently.
A CARE grant allowed Circular Polymers, already a major force in carpet recycling in the state, to move into the commercial carpet recycling space. The CARE grant funded the purchase of U.S.-made machinery that allowed the company to accept commercial carpet and carpet tile for recycling – including traditionally hard-to-recycle polyurethane-backed tile – starting in 2021.
Location: Lincoln, CA
Grant Amount and Match: CARE grants $700,000; Circular Polymers invested ~$500,000.
Total Cost of Project: $1.2 million
Project Timeline: 2020-2021
“We are grateful for CARE’s support not just financially, but as an engine for collaboration in the industry.” Nick Fiore, President, Circular Polymers
It took about six months for the new machinery to be delivered and set up. Circular Polymers was then able to process the 10% of carpet that they had been collecting but unable to use, as well as intentionally collecting and processing more commercial carpet and carpet tile.
The initial challenge was the effort and sweat equity needed to design and install custom systems to process commercial carpet, which is made up of a wide range of dissimilar materials.
In the process, Circular Polymers identified that a significant amount of commercial carpet was comprised of hard-to-recycle mixed fiber carpet and included ten to 15 different backing systems. This led the company to focus on creating a cipher for discerning the different backing types and to build an outlet system for all of them.
Once everything was in place and demand for the end product established, the ongoing challenge was to maintain a flow of feedstock: to collect enough tear-out carpet to maintain the process. Circular Polymers is conducting outreach to commercial contractors to educate them that their tear-out could be recycled.
The grant opened up a difficult-to-reach sector of used carpet for easier and more convenient recycling. Circular Polymers has recycled approximately 600,000 pounds of additional carpet monthly in 2022 for recycling since the grant was awarded in 2021; Circular Polymers’ output increased by 27% in Q1-2 of 2022 over the same period in 2021.
In addition, the company separates some carpet from the recycling stream that can still be used and funnels it to reuse outlets. The recycled commercial carpet material is reprocessed into products for the automotive, office equipment and building markets.
This is one of a series of case studies that illustrate the impact and logistics of grant funding on the carpet recycling industry in California.
Grantee Case Study: 916 Floors
Micro Grant Case Study: Florin Perkins
Grant Case Study: Moto’s Transportation
Micro Grant Case Study: Napa Recycling
Funds Support Record Carpet Recycling Rate;
Increase Necessitated by Rising Costs, Declining Sales
Dalton, GA – Differential assessments currently charged on all carpet sold in California are expected to increase on January 1, 2023. California law requires CARE, as the carpet stewardship organization for the state, to implement a differential assessment on each square yard of carpet sold that reflects its cost burden to recycle. The assessment increase has to be approved by CalRecycle in a process that will take some weeks, however carpet retailers in California should prepare now for the increase that will go into effect on January 1st.
CARE’s differential assessment plan is based on two factors: carpet material, as in broadloom vs. tile, and percent of post-consumer (PC) content, as in greater than or equal to 10 percent post-consumer content, and less than 10 percent post-consumer content. The new assessment amounts will replace the current amounts that came into effect on April 1, 2022:
| Differential Assessment Levels as of January 1, 2023 | ||
| Product | > or = 10% Post-Consumer Content | <10% Post-Consumer Content |
| Broadloom | $0.56 / square yard | $0.58 / square yard |
| Carpet Tile | $0.71 / square yard | $0.73 / square yard |
“This assessment increase undoubtedly is a serious burden for the approximately 2,000 California carpet retailers and the 79 carpet mills with operations in the state,” noted CARE Executive Director Bob Peoples. “The increase is necessitated by rising costs – as experienced in multiple industries today – exacerbated by declining carpet sales, the assessment funds from which support carpet recycling operations in the state. This comes at a time when the California Program has achieved remarkable results in terms of carpet collection and recycling; the assessment increase is necessary to continue the progress and to meet the challenging goals for the Program that have been set by CalRecycle.” The Program attained a record 31.7% recycling rate in Q2 of 2022 and typically recycles approximately 76% of carpet collected.
Carpet retailers in the state are advised to begin preparing immediately for the point of purchase changes that will be needed to collect the correct, updated assessment from customers. Carpet mills are responsible for advising retailers on which products qualify in terms of post-consumer content. CARE will continue to supply point of purchase material as well as training support materials for sales staff. Retailers are encouraged to visit the CARE website for the latest developments.
The California carpet stewardship legislation (AB 2398, 1159 and 729) is designed to find ways to incentivize the growth of carpet reclamation and recycling and still allow the market to work. The law (AB 2398) generates funding to meet its stated goals through the assessment on all carpet sold in California. California consumers pay the assessment when they buy carpet. Those monies then support CARE’s efforts, including subsidies paid to recyclers, grants to expand capacity and collection, technical assistance, market development and outreach, to increase carpet recycling in California.
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CARE submitted the California Carpet Stewardship Plan 2023-2027 to CalRecycle on September 22, 2022.
Since the previous 2018–2022 Plan, the Program has greatly expanded carpet recycling in California, including providing public Drop-off Sites in all of the state’s 58 counties, increasing quantities collected for recycling and reuse, expanding markets for recycling products, and reaching the previous statutory rate goal. The Program has made these advances despite the COVID-19 pandemic, rampant inflationary pressures, disastrous wildfires, and utility bankruptcy that have hindered economic activity and recycling growth in California and has outpaced other product recycling programs in this enormously challenging environment.
CARE’s proposed next five-year plan sets out how CARE will work toward achieving the goals set out by statute and adopted by CalRecycle. As the statutorily identified carpet stewardship organization since inception of the carpet recycling program in California, CARE is committed to strengthening this program and building on its multi-year track record of increased carpet recycling.