Low oil prices hurts carpet recycling and diversion – Oil prices carpet recycling - Arhive
Oil prices carpet recycling
Carpet diversion fell last year, another casualty of lower oil prices.
A new report from the Carpet America Recovery Effort indicated more than 488 million pounds of carpet was diverted from landfills in 2016. That’s down nearly 6 percent from the previous year.Oil prices carpet recycling
A total of 167 million pounds were recycled into carpet and other consumer products, and 144 million pounds were sent to waste-to-energy facilities and cement kilns.
Another 174 million pounds were initially diverted but then sent “back to the landfill,” the non-profit group reported.Oil prices carpet recycling
“Data shows the carpet recycling industry is under mounting stress. Until oil returns to greater than $70 per barrel, we see continuing turbulent times ahead,” CARE Executive Director Robert Peoples said in a statement.Oil prices carpet recycling
A total of 72 percent of all recycled post-consumer carpet is made into plastics. And 11 percent of recycled post-consumer carpet pounds went to make new carpet. That includes 8 percent for carpet backing and 3 percent for carpet fiber. The material recycled into carpet fiber fell from 13 to 3 percent from 2015 to 2016, CARE reported.
A total of 1,215 people were employed by carpet recyclers last year, a decrease of 80 positions from the previous year.
CARE members have diverted more than 4.6 billion pounds of used carpet from landfills since the group’s creation in 2002.