Article Number : 4454 |
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| Date | 5/11/2009 7:02:18 AM |
| Written By | LGM & Associates Technical Flooring Services |
| View this article at: | //floorbiz.com/BizResources/NPViewArticle.asp?ArticleID=4454 |
| Abstract | By Matthew Spieler LANDSDOWNE, VA.—With sales of floor coverings estimated to be down 10% to 30% depending on the category last year compared to 2007, the amount of old material taken up as a result was down as well. So, it would seem logical to presume... |
| Article | By Matthew Spieler LANDSDOWNE, VA.—With sales of floor coverings estimated to be down 10% to 30% depending on the category last year compared to 2007, the amount of old material taken up as a result was down as well. So, it would seem logical to presume the amount of carpet diverted from U.S. landfills would also be adversely affected by the economic slump. But that was not the case as reported at the 7th annual conference of the Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE). As a testament to how strong the green movement is, the actual amount of post-consumer carpet (PCC) kept from America’s dumps in 2008 was a miniscule .8% lower than that of 2007— 292.2 million pounds versus 296 million pounds. And even though inventories in collectors’ warehouses remain higher than the industry wants, the total amount of diverted product that was recycled fell slightly from 275.1 million pounds in 2007 to 243.4 million pounds last year, an 11.4% decrease (Editor’s note: FCNews will once again present a detailed report on CARE’s effort as part of our 2008 Industry Statistical issue, set for June 29.) “Even though we did not achieve growth in 2008,” noted Frank Hurd, CARE’s chairman, “we did not suffer the significant decline some feared.” He added despite all the negative issues faced in 2008, most of which continue in ’09—housing, auto and flooring/carpet sales all down, rising unemployment and fragile consumer confidence—“ the diversion of post-consumer carpet from the landfill remained positive.” The reason auto sales play a role in the CARE effort is because much of the black plastic used in today’s cars is made from recycled post-consumer nylon, such as type 6,6, one of the two main types used in the production of carpet. In fact, last year, CARE made a concerted effort to focus on the plastics industry as an outlet for diverted carpet as the realization came that flooring mills did not have the ability/capacity to take all the collected material back. As a result, there continues to be an imbalance in the amount of PCC that is collected compared to the amount of outlets that can do something with it. “The decision of CARE to focus on the plastics industry was the right move,” Hurd explained. “Our next challenge is understanding the needs of compounders and injection molders in order to create demand for plastics derived from post-consumer carpet.” With that, the organization, which is now operating under a member-driven model as opposed to being sponsor driven, kicked off three days of intensive presentations and seminars. The overriding goal is to help those involved with the collection, processing, sorting and manufacturing/recycling of PCC better understand the issues and opportunities in the marketplace so they can be better prepared to find outlets for all types of PCC, not just nylon. One of the concerns for CARE is that while nylon remains the main type of fiber used, the carpet industry is starting to incorporate more polyester (PET) in face fibers. Unlike nylon 6 and 6,6, PET currently cannot be recycled back into carpet fiber, meaning new avenues must be found if it is to be kept out of landfills after being thrown out by end users. CARE conferences are usually jammed packed with information, and this year’s meeting was no exception. But unlike previous years, this one had a slightly different feel based on the types of presentations that took place. Whether it was the numerous initiatives from CARE as part of its strategic focus for both the coming year and long-term viability of the industry to explaining how to tap into government programs and grants or from detailing common threads that have proven to be successful regardless of the business model to showcasing the latest products derived from PCC and advances in new technologies, this year’s meeting was centered on letting participants know they are making a difference in what still is an industry in its infancy. Though the recycling of paper and aluminum has been going on for a number of decades, the effort to replicate this in carpet really just began. While there have been individual efforts taking place to divert and recycle PCC as far back as the early 1990s, it wasn’t until the CARE initiative began in 2002, that a collective and collaborative effort started taking place. In other words, CARE gave birth to an entirely new industry— one centered on taking a used product and not only recycling it back into a new version of itself such as with papers and cans, but finding other industries that can recycle it into another useful product or reuse it in a way totally different than for what it was originally conceived. For example, because virgin synthetic carpet fiber—nylon, polyester or polypropylene—is a petroleum-based product, one of the reuses has been for making energy—whether it be for cement kilns or in power plants known as energy from waste facilities. Ron Greitzer, whose company, L.A. Fiber was honored with Shaw Industries as this year’s EPA/CARE award winners for innovation in PCC recycling with its Reliance Carpet Cushion products, pointed out that recycling carpet, no matter the fiber type, “is not an easy thing to do. In fact, it is about as hard as it gets.” (Editor’s note: FCNews will provide more details of the various initiatives and advances within CARE in future issues.) |