California Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 863 (Aguiar-Curry) into law, which makes changes to the California Carpet Stewardship Program. Other flooring categories, including resilient flooring and synthetic turf, which were included on the initial bill, were not included in the final version. 

AB 863 will replace the current carpet recycling program, which has consistently met state goals, with a complicated new program that is both untested, unproven, and more costly, said The Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI). See previous coverage here. 

“The passage of AB 863 is detrimental to the state of California, California consumers and the entire carpet industry, and it upends progress that has been made by the industry to advance the state’s ambitious environmental goals,” said Russ DeLozier, president of The Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI). “While there will be ramifications with this legislative outcome including implications for consumers, manufacturers, and retailers, we look forward to collaborating with all stakeholders including industry, the legislature, the administration, and CalRecycle on future efforts to improve the program and continue working towards California’s ambitious environmental goals.” 

Experts have predicted the new mandates will increase costs for California consumers and the state, putting California jobs at risk and jeopardizing an already existing and successful carpet recycling program. 

The ongoing carpet recycling program has hit significant milestones, including: increasing the state’s carpet recycling rate from 4% in 2012 to 41% in 2024; collecting over 1.2 billion pounds of post-consumer carpet since 2011, and expanded collection to every county in the state with over 350 collection sites across California at the end of 2023.  

Listen to Bob Peoples, executive director of Carpet America Recovery Effort, discuss the complexities of carpet recycling, technological advancements and California's AB 863 bill here.