CARE Names Recycler & Person of the Year

Pine Mountain, GA, May 17-- Wellman, Inc., an international Fortune 1000 corporation based out of Fort Mill, SC, was honored last evening as Recycler of the Year at the Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) Third Annual Conference. Wellman is world renown for its manufacturing of fibers, plastic packaging and engineering resins, and is one of the world's largest recyclers of plastics. "We are pleased that Wellman is using its considerable recycling expertise to help keep old carpet out of the landfill," said Bob Peoples, executive director of CARE in announcing the honor. "By recovering the reusable nylon polymer for use in automotive parts, they are helping build the infrastructure necessary to achieve CARE's objectives." Wellman is already considered the world's largest recycler of PET bottles, reclaiming almost 3 billion annually around the globe with facilities in the US, Ireland, The Netherlands and France. "We are truly excited by this exceptional recognition. We started this process back in 1996 and since then we have shipped over one hundred and fifty million pounds of Wellamid EcoLon resin containing 25% post consumer carpet," said Phil Ammons, Director of Raw Material for the Recycling Division. Ammons added: "We have to thank Ford, Visteon, Bosch and Toledo Molding and Die for their commitment to incorporate post consumer materials as a market driver of sustainable design. Without their commitment these accomplishments would not be possible." Wellman's primary manufacturing partner is Georgia Carpet Processing, owned and operated by Amir Sahebdivani in Atlanta, Georgia. Amir secures the post consumer carpet flow and does the preliminary processing for Wellman. Wellman's was just one of a couple of honors bestowed at the CARE's award ceremonies last night. Paul Ashman, who heads up Environmental Recovery and Consolidation Services LLC (ERCS), was named CARE's Person of the Year for his tireless efforts in the field of carpet recovery. Ashman is a Massachusetts businessman who was one of the founding members of CARE and the only entrepreneur engaged from the beginning. "Paul is simply an amazing businessman who has a vision and refuses to let anything get in the way of that vision. In 1992, his company was handling a large shopping mall demolition project when he unexpectedly found himself in possession of 5,000 yards of old carpet. It was then that he realized there had to be something better than just throwing it away, and he has been busy ever since trying to find useful ways to reuse carpet," said Peoples in honoring Ashman. Ashman proposed a national collection model in March on 2001 in a meeting in Pensacola, Fla., with Carpet and Rug Institute president Werner Braun and Peoples. "He's been working on that model ever since, and I have no doubt, when a workable model is in place it will be through the labor and efforts of men like Paul Ashman. "I'm honored and totally surprised by this award," Ashman said at the reception. "What we do is not always about numbers and pounds recycled, it's about a committment to do the right thing. I'm excited about what the future holds not only for my company, but especially for the myriad of possibilities that are out there for the reuse of post-consumer carpet. We've done a lot through CARE in the past three years, and I expect that we will see the fruit of those labors in the very near future."

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