Post-consumer carpet has long been hard to handle, a bulky waste item that rapidly fills up landfills. However, recent developments in technology mean this waste stream has become the feedstock for the future. Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) has been working for years to establish an effective recycling system in California, with excellent results. About 76.4 of all the carpet collected in California in 2021 was recycled into useful new products, exceeding the program's goal of 60.0. This percentage, called the yield, has grown dramatically over the life of the program from just 28.0 a decade ago, all thanks to expanded collection, extra processing capacity and growing markets for sustainable materials.
展开▼
