AUGUSTA, ME.—Add Maine to a growing list of states now working with the carpet industry to promote diverting product from landfills toward recycling and reuse.

The state entered into an agreement with the Carpet America Recovery Effort ( CARE) to increase the recycling of post-consumer carpet by diverting used carpet away from landfills and promoting the use of products that contain post-consumer carpet content.

The memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed by David Littell, commissioner of Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection and representatives of CARE, and is similar in nature to the ones signed by more than a dozen other states since the non-profit was founded in 2002.

“Used carpet is a bulky waste that is difficult and expensive to manage,” Littell said at the MOU signing here. “Maine looks forward to adding the recycling of carpet to it efforts in developing alternatives to disposal in landfills.”

Under the agreement, Maine will promote carpet recycling by seeking out reclamation opportunities for post-consumer carpet removed from government buildings and by using padding under new carpet installations that is made from recycled carpet fiber.

By signing the agreement, Maine not only joins in the industry’s effort to reduce the amount of carpet buried in landfills, it is saying to its citizens that pad made from recycled carpet fiber is a safe and environmentally preferable choice and encouraging consumers to seek ways to keep their used carpets from heading to the dumps.

“CARE welcomes Maine into the growing fold of states willing to support our voluntary efforts to find market-based solutions for the diversion of postconsumer carpet from landfills,” noted Frank Hurd, chairman.

Since 2002, CARE and its network of reclamation partners have helped divert over 1 billion pounds of carpet from America’s landfills.

In addition to Maine, the states that have currently signed on with CARE include California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Washington and Wisconsin.

For more information on CARE, visit carpetrecovery.org.