Sergenian’s Featured in Carpet Reclamation Article
An April Floor Covering Weekly article explores the struggles of the Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) during the recent recession, as well as the optimism surrounding carpet recycling as the economy recovers. Sergenian’s Floor Coverings CEO Jim Garner is quoted in the article, in which he discusses the 100% carpet reclamation guarantee that Sergenian’s has maintained since 2007.
After nine years of Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) leadership, combined with support from all segments of the industry, reclamation/recycling is back on its way to becoming a common practice in the U.S.
The recession dealt the nascent industry a blow when markets for recycled carpet declined along with sales of new carpet. Some recycling centers were forced out of business while others stockpiled post consumer carpet, hoping for a time when there would be somewhere to send it.
Now, with a recovering economy and anticipation of AB 2398, a new California law, carpet recycling is starting to grow again, according to Jeremy Stroop, operations manager for CARE. As of early March, “There are 96 carpet reclamation centers in the U.S., up from 79 in November of 2010. CARE is feeling optimistic,” said Stroop. “People wouldn’t be investing in infrastructure if they weren’t feeling confident about the future of carpet recycling.
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Retailers commit to recycling
Sergenian’s Floor Coverings, Madison, Wis., began its carpet reclamation program in 2007 in partnership with Starnet, an organization made up of contract flooring dealers. Since then, Sergenian’s has kept 2.4 million pounds of PC carpet out of landfills, according to Jim Garner, CEO of the retailer/commercial flooring dealer. “We promise that anything we take up will not go to landfills. We will accept used carpet that was bought somewhere else or even if the consumer takes it up themselves. Our installers even bag up trim,” Garner added. “For us, 43 percent of what we collect goes to waste to energy, 17 percent goes into industrial products and 40 percent goes into new products. We also send truckloads of used PVC-backed carpet tile to Interface for recycling,” Garner reported.
