CARE Increases Carpet Diversion from Landfills

Dalton, GA, April 29, 2013 -- Carpet America Recovery Effort said that its members diverted more than 351 million pounds of carpet from U.S. landfills in 2012, up nearly 5% from 2011.

In addition, CARE increased its membership to 452 members, according to the organization's annual report.

Of the carpet diverted to recycling, 294 million pounds were recycled into carpet and other consumer products.

"When we started in 2002 there was virtually no carpet-to-carpet recycling," said executive director Robert Peoples.

Last year CARE developed a more accurate formula for calculating diversion and recycling rates based on actual carpet sales in the U.S.

In addition, 2012 was the first full year CARE served as the stewardship organization for California's AB 2398 carpet recycling law.

During the reporting period of January 1 through December 31, CARE reports that 80 carpet manufacturers participated in the CARE Stewardship Plan and 112 million pounds of carpet were diverted from landfill and 48 million pounds were recycled in the state of California.

On the CARE website, there are currently 75 certified collectors listed on the CARE Certified Collectors Program, which was created at the 2011 annual meeting.

To date, CARE members have kept over 2.7 billion pounds of waste carpet out of landfills since CARE was founded in 2002.