CARE Releases Annual Report, Names Person & Recycler of 2016

Indianapolis, IN, May 11, 2017-The Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) 15^th annual conference is currently underway in Indianapolis, Indiana. At the event, the group released its 2016 annual report and named its Person of the Year and Recycler of the Year for 2016.

The Annual Report, released this week by the Carpet America Recovery Effort, reports that CARE members diverted more than 488 million pounds of carpet from U.S. landfills in 2016, down nearly 6% from 2015.

Of the carpet diverted to recycling, 167 million pounds were recycled into carpet and other consumer products, 174 million pounds were sent back to the landfill, and 144 million pounds were sent to waste-to-energy and cement kilns.

2016 was a challenging year for CARE in terms of marketplace activity and demand for various fiber types. "Data shows the carpet recycling industry is under mounting stress. Until oil returns to greater than $70 per barrel, we see continuing turbulent times ahead", said CARE's executive director Dr. Robert Peoples.

CARE continues to refine its survey methodology. It began using a mass balance approach in 2013. This methodology focuses material flows by examining inputs and outputs in each step of the recycling process.

Seventy-two percent of recycled post-consumer carpet is manufactured into plastics. This category has grown over the past few years. The amount of material recycled in carpet fiber dropped 10 percentage points, from 13% to 3%. Carpet backing remained constant at 8% of end products manufactured. 11% of recycled post-consumer carpet pounds that were recycled went into new carpet. This is considered a true cradle-to-cradle process.

Carpet recycling employed 1,215 people in 2016. This is a decrease of 80 people or 6% versus the jobs reported in 2015.

Results from 2016 were presented at the 15th annual CARE Conference by Dr. Robert Peoples. The event was held May 10 and 11 at the Hyatt Regency in Indianapolis, Indiana.

To date, CARE members have kept over 4.6 billion pounds of waste carpet out of landfills since CARE was founded in 2002.

CARE's 2016 Person of the Year, Dick Kruse, is a member of CARE's board of directors and founded Kruse Carpet Recycling in Indianapolis, Indiana. Kruse boasts many years of experience in the carpet recycling industry. He's also been instrumental in developing CARE into the organization that it is today.

Interface has been named CARE's 2016 Recycler of the Year. A CARE partner, the company's Founder Ray Anderson adopted a bold vision that involved recycling and sustainability in 1994. Since then, Interface has been one of the industry leaders in recycling carpet.

Interface became the first manufacturer to implement a process for the clean separation of carpet fiber from backing on modular carpet tiles. The program, ReEntry, which began in 1994 and brought in-house in 2002, has processed millions of pounds of material.