July 18, 2005—The Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) released its third annual report recently at its third annual conference. The CARE Annual Report includes updates on progress the organization has made in its first three years of existence as well as the annual survey results for 2004.
A total of 108.2 million pounds of post-consumer carpet was reported to be diverted from landfill in 2004, with 98.4 million pounds being recycled.
Those numbers are up from the ones reported in 2003, although at a slower pace than the increase from 2002 to 2003. Compared to 2003, this represents a 15.5 percent increase in diversion and a 13.6 percent increase in recycling.
When compared with 2002, recycling has increased 130 percent and landfill diversion is up 89 percent. The report also offers updates on market development opportunities, quantities of discarded carpet diverted from landfills, successes and obstacles encountered, and related state and federal efforts. The data was compiled via a confidential survey administered by Weston Solutions.
“In a three-year span, we have seen almost 260 million pounds of carpet diverted from landfills with 231 millions pounds of that being recycled.
Those are exciting numbers even if they do fall below some of our expectations,” said Frank Hurd, chairman of the board for CARE. “The good news in all of this is the fact we may have under reporting by as much as 60 percent. We will continue to work on perfecting the reporting process, just as we will continue to work on innovative solutions and taking products to market. I am confident we will increase our future growth.”
CARE was formed as a result of 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. CARE’s mission is to foster market-based solutions for recovering value from discarded carpet to meet the recycling and reuse goals in the agreement.
