Article Number : 3854 |
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| Date | 11/12/2008 9:00:18 AM |
| Written By | LGM & Associates Technical Flooring Services |
| View this article at: | //floorbiz.com/BizResources/NPViewArticle.asp?ArticleID=3854 |
| Abstract | CINCINNATI—With just about every sector of business having been affected by the economic downturn, those in the still fledgling carpet collection and processing community have been hit particularly hard... |
| Article | CINCINNATI—With just about every sector of business having been affected by the economic downturn, those in the still fledgling carpet collection and processing community have been hit particularly hard as they have had to deal with a limited number of manufacturers who can use and afford postconsumer carpet materials in their products. With that as the backdrop, close to 60 people representing more than 45 organizations with a vested interest in the carpet recycling industry gathered here for the Carpet America Recovery Effort’s (CARE) 5th annual Entrepreneur Meeting, and membership voted to implement a standardized grading scale for post-consumer carpet materials that is turned into post-consumer resin. Jeremy Stroop, CARE’s operations manager, said the purpose of the meeting is to focus on the needs and issues of the entrepreneurial carpet collection and processing community in a collegial and open atmosphere, while providing an informal networking forum for the attendees. The majority of this year’s meeting was focused on the difficult economic conditions facing the carpet recycling industry, namely the struggle the young businesses have dealing with the shrinking number of companies able to use the materials. To help open up new customers and sources, Stroop noted research and outreach to manufacturers who can potentially use recovered carpet materials is CARE’s number one priority at this time. “The health of this industry, as with all other industries, is dependent on the demand of a customer base able to purchase and use recovered carpet in their products. Unfortunately, due to downturns in the economy, the carpet recycling industry is having a difficult time moving the entire product they collect and process.” As a result, they are often left with large amounts of collected carpet and padding (inventory) sitting in their facilities. With no more room to store the material and no income coming in to pay overhead a number of these companies have been forced to close their doors. While no one wants to see a company fail, this is especially true for CARE as these businesses are essential if the industry is to ever meet its goal of diverting 40% of post-consumer carpet annually deposited in U.S. landfills. Stroop said the vote to implement a standardized grading scale for post-consumer carpet materials will help address the limited number of product outlets and the lack of understanding surrounding the feedstock materials available from the carpet recycling industry. CARE plans to partner with the Polymer Center of Excellence (PCE) to test and assign specific grading scales to the polymer material available from post-consumer carpet feedstock. PCE is a not-for-profit organization created by the state of North Carolina in 1999 though it roots go back to the early 90s as the Polymers Extension Program through a joint venture between North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina. Dennis Hayford, PCE’s executive director said the organization’s purpose is to assist in plastics training; plastic part design and troubleshooting; plastic material property testing; extrusion compounding, and injection molding. PCE currently conducts 19 standard tests with additional equipment planned or currently being acquired to expand its testing abilities. “The ability to develop a material grading scale for recovered carpet materials for the plastics industry should ease the transition of recovered carpet materials into that industry as a feedstock,” explained Frank Hurd, CARE’s chairman. “The challenge at this time is that compounders and injection molders do not know what the carpet recycling industry has to offer. Likewise, the carpet recycling industry does not know what the plastics industry requires for its processes. A standardized grading system alleviates this problem.” Stroop added a testing committee is being setup to help establish how products will be graded. Noting this initiative is in un- chartered waters, he pointed out the grading system will be developed based on two important factors: how many grades are needed within the plastics industry for use, and how many different grades can be achieved with various processing techniques. The other major development to come out of this year’s Entrepreneur Meeting was a networking platform for the carpet collection and processing community. The networking platform will be Web-based and will be part of the membership area. Access will be restricted to those who meet certain criteria as an entrepreneur. Stroop said this expansion of CARE’s membership area enables entrepreneurs within the carpet recycling industry to interact with each other to find solutions to some of the problems facing their industry. One of those is, oftentimes, when a customer is found, volume requirements for large purchases are more than one collector or processor can handle. The networking platform will give members the ability to partner together as a single unit to meet the demands within the market place. “Through the development of post-consumer carpet material specifications and the networking platform,” he added, “the carpet recycling industry will be able to deliver a standard product and the volumes required by large customers.” For more information about CARE or post-consumer carpet, call 706.428.2127. |