Companies Team Up to Recycle Carpet

The Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE), a joint initiative of the carpet industry, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and several other state governments and non-government organizations have announced a partnership with sustainable design company Tricycle Inc. to reduce the amount of carpet sent to landfills annually.

In 2002, CARE established a schedule to divert 40 percent of carpet landfill waste by the year 2012 by focusing on post-consumer carpet waste, helping to identify, promote and develop carpet reclamation and recycling programs.

Three years later, CARE has reported more than 120 million pounds of landfill diversion of old carpet, according to a press release from the organization.

The CARE Board of Directors recognized Tricycle’s success at reducing unnecessary design material in the manufacturing process and decided the company’s goals matched those of CARE in regards to decreasing the amount of old carpet sent to landfills.

The first component of the partnership is a Tricycle-led re-launch of CARE’s Web site. Tricycle will redesign and develop the site.

The second component is a donation program by which Tricycle will contribute a percentage of its profits to CARE. Any use of SIM from Tricycle simulation by a carpet manufacturer who is a CARE member will automatically generate a donation to CARE initiatives.