3 Tips for Recycling Your Old Carpet

The carpet in your home serves you faithfully. Year after year, it warms feet, softens noise and brightens rooms. But all good things come to an end, and a time comes when the old carpet needs to be removed and replaced. The good news is that in California, old wall-to-wall carpet doesn't need to take up space in the landfill — it can be recycled into useful new products.

Here are three helpful tips:

Tip 1: Make your carpet last!

Buying carpet is an investment — it takes dollars and makes sense to get the most of your carpet! Regular vacuuming and quickly cleaning up spots and spills will help keep your wall-to-wall carpet clean and healthy. A professional deep cleaning every 12 to 18 months will also help a lot. Visit RecycleMyCarpet.com for tips on carpet maintenance.

Tip 2: Give your old carpet a new life!

Ready to let go of your old carpet? All things must pass, but it's often possible to give old wall-to-wall carpet a new life. When you're ready to remove your old carpet, consider:

• Reusing it around the house — Old carpet, especially carpet tiles, is useful in laundry rooms, garages, pet pens and other areas. Use carpet squares as pads to prevent furniture from sliding.
• Donating it — Your discarded carpet in good condition could be someone else's treasure. Contact local thrift stores or community groups.
• Giving it away — List your old carpet with a service like Freecycle or Nextdoor and help your neighbor.

Visit RecycleMyCarpet.com for tips on how to recycle your carpet.

Tip 3: Recycle your old carpet!

When donation or reuse is no longer an option, recycling is the way to go. In California, there are over 150 public drop-off sites where carpet can be taken for recycling into useful new products. (Fees may apply.) See the map of drop-off sites here. Be sure to tell your contractor or flooring retailer that you want your old carpet to be recycled!

Removing the carpet yourself? It can still be recycled! Cut the clean carpet (free of debris) into manageable strips, roll it separate from padding and tie it up, then take it to one of the drop-off sites near you: See the map of drop-off sites here.

Carpet is recycled into new products

When taken for recycling, carpet is processed and broken down into backings, fiber and pellets. These materials are then used to make or enhance a wide variety of new products, including siding, insulation, carpet padding … even auto parts! There are actually two square yards of carpet material incorporated into every Ford F-150 truck! See the products page to learn more.

700 million pounds of California carpet!

In 2010 the California Assembly passed the nation's first carpet stewardship law, which aims to keep carpet out of landfills and increase reuse and recycling. Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) is the nonprofit organization that manages the California Carpet Stewardship Program. Over 700 million pounds of carpet has been collected and recycled in California since the Program began in 2011. That is equivalent to the weight of 15,000 garbage trucks kept out of California landfills. Visit the CARE website to learn more.