Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) has named Dick Kruse of Kruse Carpet as Recycling Person of the Year and Interface as Recycler of the Year for 2016. The two honors were awarded during the organization’s 15th annual conference.

Dick Kruse, is a member of CARE’s board of directors and founder of Indianapolis-based Kruse Carpet Recycling. Kruse has many years of experience in the carpet recycling industry, and has been instrumental in developing the CARE organization.

In announcing the award, Brendan McSheehy, chair of CARE’s board said, “Over its 15-year life, CARE has been supported and enriched by a group of very distinguished individuals. Dick Kruse stands tall among them. Over his many years of service as a board director, Dick has lent vision and wisdom. At the same time, he personally labored in the trenches of recycling, supporting his daughter Kasey as she grew and matured in the business.

“I have had the privilege of working with Dick Kruse since 2005,” added Robert Peoples, Ph.D., executive director of CARE. “I know how much Dick has enjoyed working with this board, but truthfully, we have been very fortunate to have him join our board early on. CARE and the entire recycling community has benefited enormously from the insights Dick brought to our discussions and decisions.”

Interface was named CARE’s 2016 Recycler of the Year. A CARE partner, Ray Anderson, founder of Interface, adopted a bold vision that involved recycling and sustainability in 1994. Interface became the first manufacturer to implement a process for the clean separation of carpet fiber from backing on modular carpet tiles. The ReEntry program began in 2007 and has processed millions of pounds of material.

For more information, visit www.carpetrecovery.org.