The fourth annual Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) 2006 conference was once again held at the beautiful, LEED-certified Callaway Gardens conference center in Pine Mountain, Ga.; providing a wonderful, rustic setting for an environmental gathering such as this. In addition to the excellent weather, food and spectacular views, Callaway offers a daily “birds of prey” exhibition where attendees can take a break from learning and get a close-up view of different types of birds like the beautiful owl (pictured).

Enlarge this picture CARE’s Fourth Annual Report shows a total of 483.7 million pounds carpet diverted from landfills. For further statistics, visit HYPERLINK "http://www.carpet-rug.org" www.carpet-rug.org

The CARE conference was certified a Cleaner and Greener event by the Leonardo Academy. Using attendance and facility data provided by CARE, Leonardo Academy prepared conference energy use and emission estimates, and offsets of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and renewable energy credits were gathered to make the conference an event with a net-positive atmospheric impact. Large emission reduction donors included Milliken Carpet, 3 Phases Energy and Leonardo Academy.

This year’s conference also featured a visit from Kelly Atkins, owner of Carpet-Burns, who came all the way from Derby, England to share her innovative vision of what can be done with manufacture and installation waste of polypropylene carpet (shown). Atkins found that when polypropylene is “heat-treated,” it becomes hard, durable and waterproof, while still maintaining the original pattern and color of the carpet. Her product line has evolved into 4’ x 8’ sheets of various thicknesses to meet the client needs. These sheets can be used just like wood: cut, sanded, drilled, etc., and can have a matte, gloss or stucco finish. These pieces can then be turned into furniture flooring, doors, walls — wherever your imagination takes you, really. Ironically, the most common use is flooring.

partnerships

Enlarge this picture CARE’s Fourth Annual Report shows a total of 483.7 million pounds carpet diverted from landfills. For further statistics, visit HYPERLINK "http://www.carpet-rug.org" www.carpet-rug.org

While last year’s CARE conference focused more on the products made from recycled carpet (See ed+c’s June 2005 issue, Sustainable Flooring section, page s20), the 2006 focus was on partnerships.

A synopsis of partnerships established this year includes:

• Milliken (www.millikencarpet.com) will continue to donate carbon dioxide credits to CARE to provide a new funding stream to accelerate their sustainable efforts. “Milliken’s passion for trees is well-known. One of the major benefits of trees is the sequestration of carbon dioxide. Our managed forestlands sequester much more carbon dioxide than our factories produce. Donating credits to reduce the industry’s impact on landfills fits with our philosophy of respect to the Earth,” said Russell Grizzle, global president of Milliken Floor Covering.
• Starnet (www.starnetflooring.com), a national co-op of commercial floor covering installers and contractors, has developed a carpet reclamation program with CARE and will offer certification that carpet was recycled, and will help to obtain green building certifications like LEED, thereby advancing the CARE goal.
• Tricycle (www.tricycleinc.com) provides a high-resolution sample of carpet on paper. This dematerialization of product development and sampling will divert samples from landfill. Tricycle is partnered with CARE by offering their technical expertise to redesign and build a new CARE website.
• ERCS has developed a network of recycling collection centers across the U.S. Paul Ashman, the president, is striving to make it easier for architects to write recycling into the spec of a project. More recycling centers will be joining the network. For more information about this project, visit www.carpetrecycling.com.

annual report

The release of CARE’s Fourth Annual Report included updates on the progress the organization has made in its first four years, as well as the annual survey results for 2005. The latter showed an increase of 108 percent from the amount diverted as reported in 2004. (See charts above).

In 2005, reported recycling and diversion of post-consumer carpet doubled from 2004, bringing the total amount of carpet diverted to 483.7 million pounds since 2002. The full report can be accessed on the website at www.carpet-rug.org

care award winners

Pictured here are some of the original coasters and trays products.

Person of the Year: Ronald J. Greitzer, president of Los Angeles Fiber Company Inc., the world’s largest recycler of post-consumer carpet, was named CARE’s Person of the Year for his tireless efforts in the field of carpet recovery.

Greitzer is no stranger to being honored for his work in carpet recovery by the CARE organization, having already earned the distinction of Recycler of the Year in 2003.

“One of the things I am most honored to do every year is present this very special award to people I admire and love, and Ron certainly fits that bill,” said Robert Peoples on presenting the award. “Ron is a person that people say ‘I love to work with this guy,’ and that’s one of the greatest compliments a person can get. He’s a ‘can-do’ person, and someone who roots for every single person in this business.”

Recycler of the Year: the Champion Polymer folks are from left to right, CARE Chairman of the Board Frank Hurd, Polymer Recycling’s Jack Johnson, Infiltrator System’s Bryan Coppes and Bob Peoples, Care executive director

“I’m just totally shocked here,” said Greitzer at the dinner. “I didn’t grow up with a dream to be a carpet recycler, but I did grow up wanting to be the best at anything I did. I just want to make a difference, and that’s something I tell my people every single day: make a difference. This is a great organization and I’m honored to be a part of it and to have witnessed its growth through the years.”

Recycler of the Year: Champion Polymer Recycling, a division of Infiltrator systems, Inc.

“Champion Polymer embodies the innovative spirit we strive for at CARE. They are a market leader and their business continues to grow. They are a great company to work and partner with. Champion Polymer has shown it is possible to combine superior business results and environmental stewardship by using post-consumer feedstocks,” said Robert Peoples, PhD, executive director of CARE, in announcing the honor.

Photo of Bob Peoples & Ronald Greitzer, president Los Angeles Fiber, CARE’s Person of the Year.

“Champion Polymer Recycling, a division of Infiltrator Systems, Inc., has been successful in implementing a polypropylene carpet recovery system. The CARE organization has been a major influence in this effort. It is an honor to be recognized as the Recycler of the year by this organization,” said Roy Moore, president of Infiltrator Systems, Inc.