Shaw Industries Adds Georgia Carpet Recycling Unit

Carpet maker Shaw Industries Group Inc. (Dalton, Ga.) has opened a new recycling facility in Ringgold, Ga., at a cost of more than $20 million. Shaw said the new facility recycles nylon and polyester fiber, replacing its facility in Augusta, Ga. Shaw has reclaimed and recycled more than 800 million pounds of post-consumer carpet since 2006. Carpet has gotten more attention as material that needs an increase in its recycling rate. In January the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) agreed to increase funding to bolster carpet recycling. CalRecycle allowed the Carpet America Recovery Effort, or CARE, the administrator of the state’s carpet stewardship program, to increase incentive payments. The CalRecycle decision came in response to the fact that the state carpet recycling rate has not exceeded 13 percent, although the goal is 16 percent by 2016 and 24 percent by 2020. Last August CARE reported that overall in the United States carpet diverted from landfills increased to 14 percent in 2013 from 10 percent in 2012, but carpet actually recycled fell to 5 percent from 8 percent.