Georgina Sikorski

By Georgina Sikorski Executive Director, Carpet America Recovery Effort
Every day, many or most of us do what we can to be good to the environment: We turn off the lights and faucets when we are not using them; we recycle old newspapers and other household waste; we buy CFL bulbs; and we even purchase hybrid vehicles.

But there is something else we can do: We can recycle our building and construction waste, especially carpet. The polymers in the carpet face fiber, primarily nylon, are valuable components, which, when cleanly separated from the carpet backing, can be put back into a wide range of products from carpets to consumer products.

The Carpet America Recovery Effort ( CARE) is a voluntary, nationwide organization whose mission is to divert carpet from the landfill and find market-based solutions to the recycling of post-consumer carpet. Begun as a result of a memorandum of understanding between government representatives, manufacturers, collectors and processors, CARE is now in its eighth year of operation and has diverted more than 1.3 billion pounds of carpet from the landfill.

As specifiers, purchasers or dealers of carpet, CARE needs your help. You can help reduce the amount of carpet going into the landfill by doing a few very simple things. First, when you specify, purchase or sell carpet, ask for carpets that are NSF 140 certified. This certification assures that the carpet you select has met strict standards for sustainability, including criteria for public health and the environment, energy, recycled material content, social responsibility, manufacturing and reclamation.

When you specify products for an existing building, please require that old carpet being removed from a project be reclaimed and recycled. We recommend that you include reclamation specifications in your planning documents.

As smart consumers, we can all help in the recycling of carpet by seeking out and purchasing products made with recycled content, especially post-consumer carpet recycled content. Products to look for include carpet with recycled content. Look for recycled content carpet pad (under the brand names such as EcoSoft and Reliance); there are also numerous plastic products available — look at the labels or ask your retailer if the products you purchase contain recycled content material.

Finally, become a member of CARE and support the nationwide effort to divert carpet from the landfill. CARE is the forum for the industry through our conferences, newsletters, web site and other meetings, we connect the collectors, processors, government representatives, architects, designers, building owners and manufacturers who work together to make a sustainable difference. To learn more about CARE or to become a member, visit www.carpetrecovery.org.