Recycling initiatives showcased at the fifth CRUK Conference in Birmingham highlighted the progress being made in developing value for waste carpet and embracing circular economy opportunities.
"Active projects revealed how attitudes have changed and carpet is now regarded as a valuable resource from which valuable raw materials can be extracted for reuse", says CRUK Director Laurance Bird.
Attended by over 100 industry stakeholders, the conference programme incorporated design for recycling, outlet development, market research as well as collection and sorting.
Frank Endrenyi, President of Sustainable Materials Solutions LLC, reported results of processing trials using the ReCom System, capable of high value material recovery (more on this below). He also gave an update on California's Carpet Stewardship Programme, which levies a fee on carpet sold in the state to fund a recycling programme.
Mike Walters, Recycling and Waste Operations Manager for John Lewis hosted a popular session on the store's post-installation offcuts collection project for recycling into felt underlay. Other highlights included Louise McGregor from Zero Waste Scotland talking about the challenges and opportunities for carpet recycling there, given the current recycling or reuse rate for waste carpet of 2.5%.
In a new Q&A session, Natasha Smith from DEFRA sought delegates' views on proposals for a carpet landfill ban and indicated the government position; that a good understanding of data, waste streams and markets are vital to making an informed decision.
Laurance Bird added, "There was a real buzz throughout an action-packed day and it was certainly our best-ever event which was well-received by all who attended".
