Carpet Stewardship

Stewardship is gaining popularity as a concept to encourage more participation in recycling programs. In effect, carpet stewardship is a tax or fee, assessed by a governing body and charged by a retailer, when new carpet is purchased.

Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) is a public/private industry effort designed to increase the amount of recycling and reuse of post-consumer carpet and reduce the amount of waste carpet going to landfills. CARE officially supports market-based solutions to the issue of keeping carpet out of the landfill. 

All in Favor of New Taxes, Say "Aye"

CLEAR Carpet Recycling shares the opinion that laws, mandates and legislation are not needed to make carpet recycling an attractive method of handling carpet waste. In California, a stewardship law went into effect in July 2011 whereby an additional tax of $0.05 per-square yard is applied to new carpet. This fund is administered by CARE and used to promote carpet recycling.

UPDATE: Here is a link to a story on the effects of California's Stewardship assessment on carpet (opens in new window) from KTVU in California.

Over the past few years, carpet recycling has grown dramatically. The number of companies involved in carpet recycling, from the collection to the processing, continues to expand. The carpet recycling sector is experiencing a gold-rush of sorts, as players enter the market and claim their turf.

If the trend continues and companies like CLEAR are successful in setting up carpet recycling in large parts of the country, additional stewardship laws will not be needed.

You can do your part when you remove or replace your carpet by looking for a company that recycles your unwanted carpet and pad.