California’s Carpet Recycling Program Surpasses Goals

At a time of immense strain on recycling efforts across the country, carpet recycling saw significant progress in California in 2021, according to the just-released California Carpet Stewardship Program 2021 Annual Report. In 2021, the program achieved an all-time annual high Recycling Rate of 27.9%, exceeding the 26% goal set in its Five-Year Plan.

Of all the carpet collected in California in 2021, 76.4% was recycled into useful new products, exceeding the program’s goal of 60%. This percentage, called the yield, has grown dramatically over the life of the program from just 28% 10 years ago, thanks to expanded processing capacity, growing markets for post-consumer carpet materials and technological advances.