SANTA FE, N.M.—“Outlets, outlets, outlets.” That has become the mantra of Frank Hurd, chairman of the Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) as the organization continues its quest to divert as much carpet as possible from landfills.
The success of an organization like CARE is predicated as much on finding avenues in which to sell engineered resins as it is on finding ways to recover post-consumer carpet and recycle it cost-effectively. “We are working as an organization, and manufacturers are working on it,” Hurd said.
At its annual conference here late last month, experts from every link in the chain divulged their challenges and opportunities in the world of landfill diversion and recycling of post-consumer carpet. There were carpet manufacturers, carpet collectors, carpet recyclers and processors, and end users. At the end of the day, two of the major issues are collectors needing to increase their profitability and the recyclers needing to find outlets in which to sell the processed materials. Continue reading CARE: Desperately seeking outlets