Dalton—In a joint effort to increase carpet recycling in the Pacific Northwest, the Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) and Seattle Public Utilities hosted a Sustainable Purchasing Webinar for procurement agents that explored current developments in carpet recycling and reviewed the selection of products that are being made from old carpet. The virtual meeting was attended by representatives from procurement agencies and the carpet and recycling industries.
“Being our first endeavor at bringing manufacturers and buyers together in this format, we are extremely happy to have had such a good turnout,” said Jeremy Stroop, operations manager, CARE. “I hope other areas of the country will invite us to do similar webinars. Increasing awareness of these products and their beneficial impact on the environment will contribute significantly to keeping old carpet out of landfills.”
Attendees heard first-hand from representatives from GeoHay, Polar Materials, NyconG and Nyloboard, all companies that make products using post-consumer carpet content, on the use of their products. The four companies were chosen to present based on their commitment to use recycled carpet materials and the commercial availability of their product offerings. The products available included erosion control devices, concrete reinforcement applications and commercial building materials, among other products.
“Buyers for products made of recovered material are crucial in order for recycling programs to succeed. Public purchasing has long been part of our strategy for furthering recycling,” said Shirli Axelrod, Seattle Public Utilities Green Purchasing and Carpet Recycling program specialist.
Representatives from CARE and Seattle Public Utilities brought participants up to speed on the state of the carpet recycling industry and joint efforts to increase carpet recycling in the Pacific Northwest. The idea for a purchasing webinar was developed by the Northwest Carpet Recycling Workgroup to help raise awareness on the issue and to increase the amount of carpet that is being recycled by stimulating the purchase of products that contain post-consumer carpet material. Although a leader in many other environmental initiatives, the Pacific Northwest currently trails the rest of the nation in the amount of carpet it recycles. The organizers hope the procurement webinar will move them in the right direction to diverting additional carpet from their waste streams.
Meeting details and product presentations can be found on carpetrecovery.org.