If you have recently bought a new carpet, the chances are that your old one has been stuffed in the garage or the loft, whilst you wonder what on earth to do with it. With space in landfill sites fast running out, it would be good to think that the carpet could be recycled but until recently this has been easier said than done.
Now carpet manufacturers, retailers and recyclers have got together in an attempt to boost recycling rates and address the problem. A group of fifteen have formed Carpet Recycling UK, mindful of the “growing concern” and “recognition that something should be done”. According to Kate Atkinson, who has set up the alliance, the savings in landfill fees will go some way towards the costs associated with collecting carpets from householders and sorting them.
One of the founder members is the Swindon based company, Greenback Recycling, which is the first organisation to process waste carpet materials (wool or plastics) and sell the resulting plastic recyclates to industries previously reliant on polypropylene, nylon or rubber.
If your local recycling facility does not yet support carpet recycling, how about trying some of the following ideas for your old carpet?
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