A major milestone was recently reached by the Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE)—250 members—indicating the movement is starting to gain real traction after eight years of hard work to put the voluntary effort into place.
In fact, over the past year, CARE has seen its membership double from where it has been over the previous eight years.
A significant increase in membership is a celebrated achievement for any organization. CARE, which relies solely on membership dues for funding, is particularly gratified to its new members who have joined in the past year.
This membership increase has been due to additional carpet manufacturers joining the organization, and from CARE’s new Aligned Dealer Program (FCNews, Jan. 11/18).
By joining CARE, corporations and small businesses support carpet recycling and landfill diversion. In addition to funding programs for carpet reuse and recycling, membership gives businesses the opportunity to demonstrate environmental stewardship to their customers and the public.
This is an important component to CARE because diverting carpet from landfills is still relatively new and even though there are currently 67 reclamation facilities across the U.S., there are still many parts of the country where one does not exist. Over half of all states now have a reclamation center in place (Editor’s note: See the CARE Web site, carpetrecovery.org, for the most up-to-date listing along with contact information).
In addition to not every part of the country having a reclamation center, finding end markets for post-consumer carpet remains the biggest challenge facing the industry. Recyclers need more outlets to sell their recovered material into.
As such, becoming a member, allows CARE to find additional outlets and resources so one day there will be reclamation centers all across the U.S. and allow the industry to meet its original goal of eventually diverting 40% of post consumer carpet from the nation’s landfills.
Currently, approximately 6% of the estimated 5 billion pounds of post-consumer carpet that is generated each year gets diverted. This is still quite a feat considering that in 2002 no such industry existed and the effort to ramp things up to where it is today speaks volumes to the dedication and hard work of many.
While gaining members has been a slow process, and challenges still exist in finding end markets, during this time, CARE has been instrumental in increasing carpet recycling opportunities throughout the U.S. In fact, since its inception in 2002, the non-profit organization has assisted in the diversion of over 1.3 billion pounds of carpet from landfills.
What exactly does that mean? Looking at 2008, the most recent year’s available figures, 243.4 million pounds of carpet was actually recycled, while 292.4 million pounds was diverted to other uses, many of which CARE has helped develop through education, coordination and recognition.
Next step
CARE was formed as a result of a Memorandum of Understanding for Carpet Stewardship (MOU), a national agreement signed by members of the carpet industry, representatives of government agencies at the federal, state and local levels and non-governmental organizations.
A multi-stakeholder group will start renegotiating the MOU for 2012 though 2022. In these upcoming negotiations, all stakeholders will have the benefit of eight years of experience in diverting and recycling carpet. Therefore, it is expected the goals for the new agreement will more accurately reflect the challenges and opportunities for growing the diversion. Back in 2002, participants were literally shooting in the dark since they had nothing with which to judge or assess what it would take for a program of this scope and magnitude to develop and take hold.
Participants in the negotiations include the federal government, state and city governments, non-governmental organizations, the carpet industry, the waste management industry, the plastics industry, and entrepreneurs. This group will hold a face-to-face meeting at CARE’s annual conference in April to begin the process of put- ting together a new plan.
While reaching 250 members is certainly an achievement, CARE is hoping that through its Aligned Dealer Program membership will grow at a rapid rate as this allows every retailer and contractor the opportunity to show their customers they “care” about their communities and are working to keep used carpet from reaching the local landfill.
Looking at the dealer members, they currently represent 44 states. Though six states are still not represented—Alaska, Hawaii, Oklahoma, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming—dealers in every location are being encouraged to get behind this industry effort.
One of the main reasons as to why the carpet industry led the way for the CARE initiative was to keep the government from imposing expensive regulations on the entire selling chain. With landfill space rapidly filling up and no new facilities scheduled to open the need to divert large items such as carpet is greater than ever. In fact, in England, the carpet industry is starting to see very restrictive disposal fees imposed as a way to force it into diversion.
Tax deductible
It should be noted the 44 states represented by dealers are not collection centers or recycling sites. They are retailers who are supporting the effort through a modest, tax deductible donation. For more information on the membership program and fees, visit the CARE Web site listed below.
In addition to funding pro- grams for carpet reuse and recycling, membership in CARE gives businesses the opportunity to demonstrate environmental stewardship to their customers and the public.
Each CARE Aligned Dealer receives a membership kit, which includes a framed certificate, placard and window cling, announcing the business’ support of CARE’s mission.
An additional benefit enjoyed by aligned retailers is being included on the dealer member’s Web page on CARE’s Web site. The listing offers a state-by-state roster of CARE members. The listing and easy-to-use dealer members’ page will encourage consumers to start their carpet search with CARE member retailers and dealers,” notes Georgina Sikorski, CARE’s executive director.
Jeremy Stroop, CARE’s operations manager, added, “When a consumer feels environmental sustainability is important, her purchasing decision often reflects her beliefs. Consumers can use the CARE dealer membership listing to find retailers who sell sustainable flooring products and promote carpet reuse and recycling.”
Two dealer organizations in particular have taken advantage of the Aligned Dealer Program since it was launched in November: Starnet Worldwide Commercial Flooring Partner- ship and ReSource Commercial Flooring Network have had a majority of their members join the program.
CARE is also grateful to have Mohawk’s aligned dealers and Shaw’s Flooring Network participate in the program. As it has already shown, the potential is great to not only recycle carpet but to reuse it in a host of other products and industries. Through the support and efforts of groups like Starnet, Re- Source, along with mills such as Mohawk and Shaw, as well as the independent dealers that have stepped up to the plate, CARE and the industry will be able to ultimately achieve its goals to keep carpet from entering the landfill.
For more information or to learn more about how to recycle used carpet, visit the CARE Web site at carpetrecovery.org.
This story was put together through a collaborative effort between Floor Covering News and CARE.