SEATTLE—The Carpet America Recovery Effort ( CARE) recently extended its expertise into the Northwest by participating in the Seattle Buildex Trade show, held here at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center. By means of an exhibitor booth, CARE showcased various products made from postconsumer carpets to nearly 2,000 attendees.

“CARE has been supportive of our efforts to manage and reuse deconstruction materials,” said Shirli Axelrod, senior environmental analyst at Seattle Public Utilities.

“We’ve been in touch for the last two years, because they have information that I have to learn.” She added that last year’s trade show in Seattle had a deconstruction materials panel and involving CARE in the discussion has helped get the regional effort toward carpet recycling off the ground.

Frank Hurd, CARE’s chairman, also led an educational panel, titled, “Recycle! Reuse! Your Building Materials are Worth It.” The session discussed how to divert building materials from landfills by reusing and recycling without posing a threat to human or environmental health with special focus on carpet, wood, wallboard, architectural salvage and materials. He also included a review of the effort to divert carpet from landfills since CARE’s inception in 2002.

As an added bonus, CARE’s Jeremy Stroop participated in a “Carpet Recycling Business Roundtable,” and “Product Procurement Meeting” Webinar, hosted by King County to coincide with Seattle Buildex, Axelrod said. Attended by approximately 70 members of the carpet industry, recycling professionals, government and non-governmental organizations, the meetings supported the establishment of carpet processing in the Northwest and developing end-market outlets for post-consumer carpet goods.

“After realizing the untapped value of plastics in the from of carpet waste, the people of King Country are taking a proactive position to determine the best way to recover this valuable resource,” Stroop said. “Their vision to include all stakeholders from the carpet manufacturer all the way down to the recycler that makes plastic pellet will provide them the greatest opportunity for success.”