Carpet Disposal and Recycling

Million tonnes of carpet waste in North America go waste into landfills every year covering many thousand square km. Carpet waste are also considered as a source of environment pollution. Disposal of carpet has always been a problem in the past. To address this problem the carpet industry has teamed up with government agencies and other concerned groups to establish a program that encourages the recycling of used carpet materials.

Both the government agencies and the private companies have implemented a national agreement that sets goals for increasing the amount of carpet for recycling. One result of this cooperative effort has been the creation of entire industry that is built around the collection and recycling of used carpet materials.

World over people decorate their house with various floor covering items. Carpets fill the room with new beauty and gives wonderful experience underfoot. Wall to wall carpet, also called as tufted carpet, is still the most popular choice in floor covering for home and commercial applications. In fact, carpet accounts for over seventy percent of all flooring covering sales in the United States and tufted or wall to wall carpet represents over ninety percent of all the carpet sold.

Calculating the amount of the carpet sold in the United States and convert it to the number of pounds sold you come up with a staggering nine billion pounds.

The figure clearly points out that the carpet business can have a tremendous impact on the environment. Have you ever considered what happens to the carpet that is replaced every year? According to estimates over 4 billion pounds of carpet that is replaced every year goes to the landfill. The costs associated with properly disposing of all the used carpet can be felt by consumers, carpet sellers and installers as the cost of taking discarding carpet to local landfills continues to rise every year.

Since carpet sellers and installers tend to pass cost increases for disposal the consumer feels a bigger pinch. There is no telling how much used carpet is disposed of in ways that are less than legal or less than friendly to the environment.

Due to the initiatives taken by the corporate sector now various centers have been established in USA . This resulted in the decrease in the amount of used carpet materials that end up in the local landfill. On the other end of the carpet cycle, producers are working to incorporate more recycled carpet fiber into their products.

Since many consumers are increasingly concerned about the environment, it is important to note that the move toward increased recycling has been driven by more than just dollars and cents. Modern consumer has become more responsive to environmental needs and is conscious of the impact his buying choice would have on the environment and many of us are adjusting their spending habits as a result.

As a responsible consumer you can ask the seller and the installer if they participate in a carpet recycling program. Always select the carpet that is strong, long wearing and that is appropriate for the location. This will help reduce the need to replace the carpet. Since a greater variety of carpet products are made from recycled materials, select a carpet that has the highest available amount of recycled content.

Always clean your carpet regularly. Proper cleaning and maintenance extend the life of the product. Thus by prolonging the life of he carpet a consumer can reduce the amount of carpets going waste into landfills.