Carpet can be recycled when properly prepared and brought to a drop-off site that takes carpet for processing and recycling. One challenge is capturing the carpet for recycling before it goes to landfill.
Since 2011 CARE has been the organization implementing the California Carpet Stewardship Program under California law AB 2398. The California Carpet Stewardship Program works to increase collection of carpet by enabling and encouraging carpet collection from homeowners, contractors, retailers and carpet installers. CARE also supports the development of markets for recycled carpet material, which is now included in a variety of products, including automotive parts, house trim and siding, insulation, accessibility ramps, even bullet-resistant walls and doors. Recent years have shown remarkable advances in the amount of carpet collected – over 130 public drop off sites with locations in every county and over 200 private collection points, and still expanding) – and recycled into useful new products.
Recent years have shown remarkable advances in the amount of carpet collected and recycled into useful new products.
Among the achievements:
The California Carpet Stewardship Program has achieved an unheard-of carpet recycling rate of 33.9 percent for 2022. This far exceeds the 27 percent goal set in the Program’s Five-Year Plan, and the California carpet recycling rate has more than tripled since 2015.
Other milestones:
