California Signs Aggressive Carpet Recycling Bill

Dalton, GA, Oct. 4, 2010--California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed the Carpet Stewardship Bill, which the industry hopes could become a nationwide model for carpet recycling.

The bill incentivizes carpet recycling by rewarding those entrepreneurs and inventors who produce marketable products made from post-consumer carpet.

The bill generates revenue through an initial assessment of 5 cents per square yard of carpet sold in California. Further, manufacturers will be required to establish a stewardship plan with the state for implementing carpet recycling. Stewardship plans will encompass consumer education efforts, the assessment of fees, and progress measurement and reporting.

Manufacturers will work with California regulatory agencies with the help of the Carpet America Recovery Effort, or CARE.

CARE said it will begin working immediately with CalRecycle to develop a stewardship plan that will increase carpet recycling through the funding mechanism that is established in the bill. The Carpet Stewardship Bill differs from other legislation in that it provides monetary incentives for entrepreneurs and investors that create marketable products from old California carpet.