California Set to Introduce Carpet Recycling Legislation

Connector Fall 2017

AB 1158 was crafted to protect consumers and the environment by requiring manufacturers to implement a stewardship program that sets a carpet recycling goal of 24 per cent by 2020.

In October California Governor Jerry Brown signed carpet recycling legislation that will help California reach its target of emitting 40 per cent fewer greenhouse emissions by 2030. The bill, AB 1158, which was sponsored by the National Stewardship Action Council (NSAC), was crafted to protect consumers and the environment by requiring manufacturers to implement a stewardship program that sets a carpet recycling goal of 24 per cent by 2020.

AB 1158 received bipartisan support by the Senate and Assembly, as well as carpet producers like Interface and Tandus-Centiva.

The needs to pass AB 1158 and expand carpet recycling include:

  • Carpet is made of 99 per cent plastic, from fossil fuel, and more than 30 million pounds of carpet was incinerated in California between 2011 and 2015.
  • A CalRecycle waste characterization report found carpet to comprise 1.8 per cent of the overall disposed waste stream in California.
  • Recycling 1,000 square feet of carpet and pad diverts 500 pounds of carpet and padding out of landfills and prevents 913 pounds of CO2 from being emitted into the air (the equivalent of 950 miles driven by car).
  • The demand for carpet is expected to increase to 14.6 billion square feet by 2019, an increase of 4.5 per cent.

“I thank Governor Brown for signing this important piece of legislation,” said Heidi Sanborn, executive director of the National Stewardship Action Committee, in a statement. “It’s imperative that we increase the proper recycling of carpet as these materials are now one of the largest greenhouse emitters of any landfilled product. Nationally, approximately 4.7 billion pounds of carpet end up in landfills each year.  Most of the materials are plastic made from oil and have a large GHG footprint. By signing AB 1158 into law, we are not only protecting consumers by ensuring the recycling fee is used for recycling, but will be protecting the environment while creating jobs.”

Source: Waste360