- 21.8 Million pounds of carpet collected (+31% vs. Q2)
- 14.3 Million pounds of recycled output (+32% vs. Q2))
- $5.27 Million in subsidy payouts.
CARE Grant Case Study: Moto’s Transportation
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Large retailers, generating post-consumer carpet, can benefit from an on-site container specifically for carpet and pad recycling. Moto’s Transportation, an established hauling/transport company in the Sacramento area, created an avenue for local retailers to dispose of post-consumer carpet, generating an additional capacity to their services. The CARE capital grant funded the purchase of 12 trailers to place at local retailers and two trucks to haul carpet for processing at a local recycler.
LOCATION
Greater Sacramento
TIMELINE
June 30, 2019 – September 30, 2020
CARE GRANT AMOUNT
$150,000
PROJECT CHALLENGES
The COVID-19 pandemic led to a slowdown in demand as some retailers temporarily closed or saw declines in business.

PROJECT BENEFITS & OUTCOME
The volume of carpet collected increased significantly and quickly. By Q1 2020, 3.67 million additional pounds of carpet was collected and 3.59 million pounds in Q2 2020.
Trailers dedicated for carpet collection facilitated source separation, while simultaneously enabling retailers a significant financial benefit from the expense of sending carpet to landfill. Moto was able to grow from servicing ten retail customers to thirty in less than a year.
“The CARE grant helped me expand my business. Applying for the CARE grant was pretty simple; my administrative team was able to easily navigate through the system.”
–Nelson Moto, President, Moto’s Transportation
IMPLEMENTATION
- Moto leveraged established relationships to place all 12 trailers within a few months.
Visit our Post Consumer Carpet Products page.
Visit the CARE grants page.
This is one of a series of case studies that illustrate the impact of grant funding on the carpet recycling industry in California.
CARE will offer a Cycle 2 round of grants to support capital improvements and product testing in late 2017. Sign up for updates here.
Other Grantee Case Studies:
CARE Grantee Case Study: CLEAR
CARE Grant Case Study: Florin Perkins
CARE Grantee Case Study: GHD, Inc.
CARE Grant Case Study: Napa Recycling
CARE Grantee Case Study: Safepath Products
CARE Grantee Case Study: Sierra Mat & Rubber
California Carpet Stewardship Program Results, Q2 2020: Holding On in Face of COVID
CARE has released California Stewardship Program results for Q2 2020. Despite the major impact of COVID-19 in Q2, the overall recycling rate held at 19.8%, essentially flat from Q1’s 19.9%. Calculation of the recycling rate is driven by both recycled output and sales of new carpet. Sales of new carpet were down to 14.4M square yards – an historic low. This follows an already weaker than expected Q1. Both recycled output and sales were down approximately 16%.
CARE Executive Director Bob Peoples noted “While the recycled output is a significant drop, it is actually better than expected, given the economic shutdown in key markets. According to CARE’s forecast, it looks like Q3 will show the beginning of a slow recovery. In addition, one major capacity project is expected to come online.”
Recycling Progress: CARE California Program 2019 Annual Report

- The overall 2019 California recycling rate was 19%, up 27% over 2018. The national carpet recycling rate was 5%.
- 82 million pounds of post-consumer carpet was collected before it could go to landfill.
- 58 million pounds of recycled output was produced (up 18% from 2018).
- Over 70% of all carpet collected was recycled, up from 53% in 2018.
CA Wildfires: Carpet Recycling Transport Service Announcement
Our hearts go out to those who have been injured and/or displaced by the current stream of Wildfires across our beautiful state. We are keeping a close eye on the areas impacted by evacuation zones as well as in the direct paths of fire. We are grateful for the efforts of all firefighters and response crews battling these blazes and wish them a safe return to their families. Our partners and their respective communities are a vital part of our program and their safety and well-being is of the utmost importance to us.
As a result of closely monitoring fire/weather/evacuation routes, we may choose to postpone a scheduled container swap service if the environment is not deemed safe. This may include a danger present at the site itself, or to reduce the amount of traffic congestion in a designated evacuation area.
As these areas begin to recover and fire remediation processes begin, we’d like to remind all of our Drop Off Sites that we are unable to accept any post-consumer carpet material that has experienced fire damage including smoke contamination. This material should be sent to landfill and not included in CARE collection units.
We appreciate your understanding and will do all we can to support our sites during these trying times.
Most importantly, stay safe.
Your CARE California Team