21 June 2011 Consumer support will be critical to the success of a new Carpet Product Stewardship Law in California that is intended to increase the recycling of carpet into new products, preserve landfill space, reduce dependency on fossil fuels and create green jobs.
Californian state law, AB 2398 is the first product stewardship law in the country to specifically address carpet.
As of 1 July this year AB 2398 will require a $.05 per square yard (0.83 square metres) stewardship assessment be added to the sale of all carpet sold or shipped into California. The assessment will appear as a separate, after-tax line item to raise consumer awareness about carpet recycling.
According to California's Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle), the revenue generated will be used to incentivise carpet recycling by rewarding entrepreneurs who recycle carpet and produce marketable products made from post-consumer carpet.
Like many textiles, carpet is made of petroleum-based material. Currently, more than 400 million pounds (181,400 tonnes) of used carpet are sent to landfill each year in the state - representing 39 million gallons (147 million litres) of oil that CalRecycle says could be put to other uses.
According to the Department, carpet has been recycled for more than a decade across the U.S. with the recovered resources used to manufacture new carpet fibre, building and construction materials, and products for the consumer and automotive industries, among other uses.
The goals of AB 2398 include significantly increasing the quantities of carpet recycled in California.
The carpet product stewardship program will be administered by Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE), a not-for-profit organisation formed as a public/private partnership between government entities, entrepreneurs, and the carpet industry to find market-based solutions for carpet recycling.
Since the group was founded in 2002, CARE claims that its members have diverted more than 2 billion pounds (907,000 tonnes) of carpet from landfills across the U.S.
CalRecycle will provide oversight for the AB 2398 program, which requires carpet manufacturers to participate in an approved carpet stewardship program and conduct consumer education programs.
"CARE has developed communications materials for consumers, such as signs, store placards and informational flyers," said Georgina Sikorski, Executive Director of CARE. "These materials are being distributed and will be in stores by July 1."
However, she also emphasised that industry and government alone cannot force recycling to happen. An increase in recycling will need to be driven largely by consumer demand.
"As more new carpet customers ask to have their old carpet recycled instead of being landfilled, retailers are finding ways to make that happen," Sikorski concluded.
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