#11 Carpet & Carpet Recycling

 

Carpet & Carpet Recycling

Gina Christopher

 

Carpet Properties & Styles:

Pile height is the length of the piled tufts above the backing. Pile height is normally reported in decimal form, and is routinely supplied to contract designers, architects, and others who specify floor covering.  Pile weight is how heavy the yarn is by square yard and is usually measured in ounces. Pile density is determined by the closeness of the pile Tufts in the wear layer. The yarn loops in some soft floor coverings are cut, producing independent Tufts. In other coverings, the loops are left uncut, resulting in a loop. Multi-level loop pile styles show noticeable differences in the height of their pile yarns. The variations can be used to create an all-over seemingly random texture, or they may be designed to create a pattern. These services are quite durable if the density is reasonably high. Combining cut loops, uncut loops, and multiple pile heights produce broad possibilities for design variations and patterning.

CARE (Carpet American Recovery Effort):

C-cleaning, A- Appearance Retention, R-Resilience, and E- Endurance.

CARE was established in 2002 and has diverted over one billion pounds of carpet materials from landfills to reuse and recycle so far. The mission of CARE is to advance market-based solutions that increase landfill diversion and recycling of post-consumer carpet and encourage design for recyclability. Post-consumer carpet diversion and recycling are economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable for all stakeholders. Care believes in market-based solutions, entrepreneurship, hierarchy of waste management, sustainable practices, resource conservation, transparency, and more. CARE issues an annual report at the CARE Annual Conference each year.

EF Contract Flooring takes product recycling seriously. They developed the R$ program (return, reuse, recycle, reduce) for customers across the country to facilitate the recycling of all carpet, LVT, and Kinetex products. On average, they recycle/reuse 5,000 pounds of samples per month, which enables them to divert over 60,000 pounds of waste from the landfills each year. Other companies that contribute to recycling include Armstrong Flooring and Mohawk Industries.

 

One Step Further:

Armstrong Flooring

Armstrong flooring has multiple programs to keep flooring materials out of landfills, such as On&On, the Samples recycling program pilot, and save a sample. On&On is a national recycling program that helps you save money while also helping the environment. The On&On™ program reclaims Armstrong LVT and VCT flooring as well as other qualified products, including their competitors’ products, with or without adhesive. The samples recycling program pilot utilizes recycling boxes to collect samples and then invites students to educational events to learn and then keep the recycled samples for projects. Save a sample is a program that fills boxes with design materials and donates them.

 

References:

About. Carpet America Recovery Effort. (n.d.). https://carpetrecovery.org/about-care/

Admin. (2025, January 19). R4 sample return. EF Contract Flooring. https://www.efcontractflooring.com/sustainability/r4/

Coleman, L. (2025, January 24). Recycled flooring – the road to Sustainability. Continental Flooring Company. https://www.continentalflooring.com/recycled-flooring-the-road-to-sustainability/

Yates, M., & Concra, A. (2019). Textiles for residential and commercial interiors. Fairchild Books, Bloomsbury Publishing Inc.