Dalton, GA, September 4, 2007—Shaw said the nationwide collection network for used carpet made from nylon 6 has been meeting its goals for supplying materials for its Evergreen Nylon Recycling facility.
The Evergreen plant uses patented technology to convert annually over 100 million pounds of nylon 6 carpet into caprolactam, the raw material used to make nylon 6. The closed-loop recycling allows the fibers to be renewed without the loss of performance.
Shaw also recycles carpets made of nylon 6.6, polypropylene, and polyester (PET).
The industry collects about 300 million pounds annually.
The supply of used nylon 6,6 carpet had grown substantially, partially because of a fire at a recycling facility, and partly because of falling demand for the recycled materials due to economic conditions.
“The dramatic decrease in nylon 6.6 processing capability as a result of the fire has created an oversupply at the collection level and has put many fledgling collectors in financial jeopardy,” says Steve Bradfield, Shaw director of environmental affairs. “Although Shaw doesn’t manufacture or recycle nylon 6.6, we took a proactive position in helping collectors of both types of nylon to remain in business in 2007.” Bradfield said Shaw has purchased more than 11.5 million pounds of nylon 6.6 from collectors over and above its purchases of nylon 6 carpet since January in order to keep the entire collection system balanced and solvent.
Shaw is also working with the Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) in helping to ensure the success of the organization’s national reclamation network. CARE is a joint industry-government effort organized to increase the amount of recycling and reuse of post-consumer carpet and reduce the amount of waste carpet going to landfills. The organization’s national goal is to achieve a landfill diversion rate of 40% by 2012.
