California Considering Carpet Recycling Mandates

Dalton, GA, July 19, 2010--The California Legislature is considering a bill that would make carpet manufacturers meet recycling targets or not be allowed to sell their products in the state, according to a story in the Dalton Daily Citizen.

The newspaper reported that State Assembly Speaker John A. Perez, D-Los Angeles, introduced the bill as a way “to grow the state’s carpet recycling industry by keeping waste carpet out of landfills” since the business has already created “many green jobs.”

The bill also aims to reduce the cost of discarded carpet on local governments. State studies have found an estimated 1.3 million tons of carpet is disposed in California landfills annually, making up 3.2 percent of all solid waste.

“Typically, producers do not consider recycling possibilities, disposal costs and environmental impacts when designing products because public agencies and other entities, not the producers, bear those costs, which each year amount to hundreds of millions of dollars,” according to the legislation.

The bill requires carpet makers to prepare a “carpet stewardship plan” to show how they will collect waste carpet instead of sending it to landfills. It sets targets of 25 percent collection of discarded carpet by Jan. 1, 2017, and 50 percent by Jan. 1, 2022. Manufacturers would be prohibited from selling carpet in California after 2012 unless they have prepared a plan to meet the targets. Unauthorized businesses or individuals selling or attempting to sell carpet would face fines of up to $10,000.

Among those opposing the requirements are carpet makers Beaulieu of America, Mohawk Industries, and Shaw Industries, as well as the Carpet and Rug Institute, the newspaper said

CRI President Werner Braun, in a letter to Perez earlier this year, wrote that more than $300 million has been spent on carpet recycling by the industry and private investors in recent years, the newspaper reported. He also said the legislation would have a debilitating effect on the state’s economy.

“What we don’t need is legislation that would potentially jeopardize manufacturing jobs in your state,” Braun wrote. “As I am sure you are aware, the carpet industry is one of the few remaining American manufacturing industries and is part of the manufacturing base in California. This is the wrong time to place economic burdens on American manufacturers who are diligently working in a voluntary manner to solve this challenge.”

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