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June 25, 2010

Werner Braun: Carpet industry CARES

We all care about different things: our families and friends, pets, hobbies, jobs and traveling, just to name a few.

At the Carpet and Rug Institute, we “CARE” about one other thing as well: our impact on the environment. Through the Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE), the carpet industry is protecting the Earth’s system of natural resources.  

Last week, we began exploring how the carpet industry is working toward eliminating all industrial waste from landfills and striving to operate with an environmental footprint that gives back to the ecosystem. And now I am going to talk about how we CARE.

Carpet America Recovery Effort is a joint industry-government effort to increase the amount of recycling and reuse of post-consumer carpet and reduce the amount of waste carpet going to landfills. CARE was established as a result of a Memorandum of Understanding for Carpet Stewardship (MOU), a national agreement signed by members of the carpet industry; representatives of government agencies at the federal, state and local levels; and non-governmental organizations. The goal is to divert a portion of the 4.7 billion pounds of carpet currently going into landfills annually by the year 2012.

 CARE’s vision is to bring value to the emerging post-consumer carpet recycling industry through reuse, recycling into carpet and non-carpet products, and other diversion technologies. For eight years, CARE supporters have pushed forward with new ideas on saving our landfills from unneeded waste.

Through CARE, carpet industry members and government entities are jointly responsible for monitoring, assessing and reporting on the progress toward the national goals for carpet recovery as agreed upon in the MOU. Stakeholders outside of the carpet industry maintain active roles in CARE to assist with data collection, analysis and program evaluation to ensure transparency in reporting on the status of activity.

And progress we have made since 2002. Despite a difficult year for the carpet industry, the 2009 CARE Annual Report revealed that survey respondents diverted 311 million pounds from the landfill and recycled 246 million pounds of carpet. This is a reported diversion and recycling increase of 6 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively, from 2008 to 2009.       

Each year, we also continue learning. Manufacturers are the largest users of post-consumer carpet and new carpet is the most common end product produced from used carpet. The United States continues to be the primary market for post-consumer carpet material, with 97 percent of the material collected being used within the USA.

There were 1,661 people associated with carpet recycling/recovery nationwide in 2009, an increase of 51 percent over 2008. The 2009 response rate was very high, with 56 companies providing some level of quantitative data (compared with 35 for 2008).  

So what does all of this mean?

For one: The overall number increase of companies and people associated with carpet recycling/recovering speaks for itself. We as a carpet industry, though many friendly competitors, are one in the mission to eliminate landfill emissions. And the numbers are growing.

Secondly, we can make a difference. By changing behaviors through education, carpet recycling supports business goals for all stakeholders; it drives and supports sustainable behaviors, opens new markets for small to large businesses and gives consumers more sustainable choices.

Being “green” is a personal choice. But being “green” is becoming a reality. Carpet is recyclable and since 2002 CARE has diverted 1.6 billion pounds of carpet from the landfill, decreased GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions by 1.2 million MTCE (metric tons carbon equivalent) — which is equal to not burning 10 million barrels of oil — and has created over 1,660 primary jobs. In fact, one secondary job is created for every primary job. The number of collection facilities has grown from five in 2002 to 72 currently.

As the year 2012 approaches, the 10-year study with CARE is closing, but the positive environmental footprint isn’t. This is only the beginning.

Werner Braun is president of the Carpet and Rug Institute.

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