Eight states, federal regulators and major carpet manufacturers signed an agreement Jan. 8 aimed at cutting landfill disposal of old carpeting by 40 percent over the next decade.
The National Carpet Recycling Agreement, struck after two years of negotiation, pledges manufacturers to assume responsibility for their carpet from design to disposal.
Manufacturers will work to recycle up to 27 percent of the 2.5 million tons of carpet that now end up in the nation's landfills, and reuse as much as 5 percent. The industry has formed an independent group, the Carpet America Recovery Effort, to achieve the goals.
"What we're looking for is a nonregulatory approach," said Sherry Enzler, director of the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance, which began exploring industries whose products would be the most logical to reuse and recycle. "The evidence nationally suggests that it is very expensive to run regulatory programs."
The document is not legally binding although officials say the effort's high profile will spur compliance.
"There's a commitment to do it," Enzler said. "These companies are publicly holding themselves up to the world and saying 'We will do this."'
The agreement was announced in Georgia, where mills in five northwestern counties produce about 80 percent of the nation's carpet supply.
States that signed the agreement are: Wisconsin, California, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina and Oregon. The Environmental Protection Agency also is a party to the agreement. Several other states have sought information about the program, Enzler said.
The 40 percent target ultimately will be raised to 90 percent.
Carpet manufacturers do not expect the agreement -- which will lead to new collection procedures and recycling infrastructure -- to add to the cost of new carpet, said Werner Braun, president of the Carpet and Rug Institute, the manufacturers' trade group, based in Dalton, Ga.
Organizers say the recycling agreement will be a model for sustainable product development in other industries. Carpet is the first, with electronics and paint future possibilities.
The agreement "creates the right motivational climate" for carpet makers to help control the disposal of old carpets, Braun said.
The institute represents 200 companies, including 35 of the largest carpet manufacturers.