Carpet America Recovery Effort

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

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New Video Highlights Projects That Use Recycled PET

CARE has produced a new video that describes exciting developments in the use of recycled PET carpet. The video, The Sustainable Uses of PET Plastic, focuses on civil engineering applications for recycled PET carpet happening right now in California. The video highlights efforts at LA Fiber, Circular Polymers, and Humboldt State University.

The key to a successful carpet recycling program is creating more products that use these materials along with markets to buy them, thus creating demand.  The video will be used as part of CARE’s extensive efforts to promote and encourage new markets and products using recycled carpet material.

$1.1 Million in Cycle 3A Grants Awarded

This month CARE awarded over $1.1 million in Cycle 3A of its Capital Improvement Grant Program, which provides funding for capital improvements that will establish, increase, improve and enhance additional California generated post-consumer carpet (PCC) reuse, recycling and/or utilization of recycled content product manufacturing.

Cycle 3A grantees who have signed contracts and received their notice to proceed with new projects are:
  • Circular Polymers, Lincoln, CA: $325,000 for infrastructure and equipment to significantly expand processing capacity.
  • LA Fiber, Los Angeles, CA: $500,000 for a new dust collection and Post-Consumer Carpet Calcium Carbonate (PC4) processing system in order to significantly expand processing capacity.
  • Visions Environmental, Oroville, CA: $290,000 to add capital equipment to expand the company’s capacity to manufacture end-use products in the building and construction industries using calcium carbonate.
These projects anticipate adding approximately 21 million pounds in recycled output capacity and at least 1.7 million pounds in manufactured output capacity in 2019.
CARE may add more funds to Cycle 3A in 2019 and will continue to accept applications for capital projects through 2019. For more information, contact Abbie Beane, CARE grants manager, at abeane@carpetrecovery.org; for more see the CARE grants webpage.

Building on Previous Cycles’ Success

In just its first two cycles, the CARE grants program has awarded $5.9 million to eight organizations in Cycle 1 and to 18 organizations in Cycle 2. Grant amounts ranging from $15,000 micro grants to $500,000 capital improvement grants support improved carpet collection, new product and application testing, and major infrastructure and equipment purchases. These investments are expected to help the recycled output rate rise to meet the goal of 24% by January 1, 2020.
Results from earlier grant cycles are summarized here.

Stewardship Groups Partner on Media Insert to Inform about Recycling

CARE has partnered with product stewardship groups PaintCare, Mattress Recycling Council and Call2Recycle to create a four-page insert on how to recycle old batteries, mattresses, paint and carpet. Some 2.5 million copies of the insert will appear in 25 newspapers around California during April as part of Earth Month.

The insert is designed to inform Golden State consumers that carpet, paint, mattresses, and batteries can be recycled (though not put in the blue cart!) and to show the products that can be made from the recycled products. It was produced by Sacramento-based SN&R publications.

View the insert

CARE Grants: Investments in Collection, Recycling and Market Development Show Promising Results

CARE Grantee Swisstrax is testing varying percentages of PC4, PET and PP in their existing flooring tiles with success.

Grants are a valuable investment in growing recycled output as well as  the market for products made with post-consumer carpet. This growth is what pulls an increasing volume of carpet into the recycling stream and away from landfills each year. CARE’s grants have had, and continue to have, tremendous impact on the health of the carpet recycling industry; however, it can take months or even years for the full impact of the grants to be realized among carpet recycling stakeholders.

In just its first two cycles, the CARE grants program has awarded $5.9 million to 8 organizations in Cycle 1 and 18 organizations in Cycle 2. Grant amounts ranging from $15,000 micro grants to $500,000 capital improvement grants support improved carpet collection, new product and application testing, and major infrastructure and equipment purchases. These investments are expected to help the recycled output rate rise to meet the goal of 24% by January 1, 2020.

The first two CARE grant cycles to date have seen significant results:

Cycle 1 Capital Improvement Grants 

  • $2.2 Million awarded
  • 8 million pounds in new Recycled Output in 2018
  • 13 new California Jobs

Cycle 1 Product Testing Grants

  • $145,984 awarded
  • Two new products have completed the in-field pilot testing phase with success

Cycle 1 Collection Grants

  • $50,000 awarded
  • 4 million pounds in new collection in 2018

Cycle 2A Capital Improvement Grants 

  • $2,569,115 million awarded
  • 55 million pounds in new Recycled Output (projected for 2019)
  • 100+ new California jobs (projected for 2019)

Cycle 2B Product Testing 

  • $845,197 awarded
  • 6 companies testing new products or applications containing post-consumer recycled carpet

Cycle 2M Micro Grants for Collection/Reuse 

  • $71,064 awarded
  • 5.6 million pounds in new collection/reuse (projected for 2019)

And, the good news continues: Cycle 3A grants will be announced shortly.

For more information, see:

CARE Grants page

CARE Awards $3.2 million in Grants to Improve Carpet Recycling 

California Grant Cycle 1M Awards Announced

CA Capital Improvement Grant Reallocation Approved

California Grant Programs Bolster 2016 Capital, Recycling and Product Development

CARE’s California Carpet Stewardship Program Awards $2 million in Grants

 

 

CalRecycle Approves CARE Five-Year Plan

Efforts to Increase Carpet Recycling Continue Via Subsidies, Grants, Market Development, Technical Assistance and Outreach

February 21, 2019 – California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) Director Scott Smithline yesterday approved the most recent Five-Year Plan submitted by Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE). See the Request for Approval here.

The Plan’s approval means that CARE will continue as the carpet stewardship organization for California and will keep working aggressively 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.

“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 California landfills, 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, building owners and consumers on the process and benefits of recycling. We are working hard to support recyclers and to ensure that we meet or exceed the 24% carpet recycling rate goal set by the Plan by January 1, 2020.”

“We appreciate the California Carpet Stewardship Advisory Committee and CalRecycle’s feedback and continued cooperation to create a Plan that meets the needs of the state and the industry,” noted Peoples. “CARE is working with stakeholders on exciting developments that are going to change the face of carpet recycling and achieve the ambitious goals set by our new Plan.”

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. See more on products here. The California Carpet Stewardship Program is funded by an assessment – 35 cents per square yard — on all carpet sold in California.


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, and 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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