The Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) has announced a record-breaking achievement in carpet recycling, surpassing California’s 2024 goal with a 38.5% recycling rate. Submitted to CalRecycle on September 1, CARE’s Annual Report highlights steady year-over-year progress driven by expanded collection networks, innovative grants, and growing end markets for recycled carpet material., 

“We are very proud of the progress this Program has made in diverting carpet from landfill and recycling it into new products," said CARE Executive Director Bob Peoples. "Our efforts at growing collection, reuse, recycling and innovations in market development have paid off. Recyclers have collected more than 1.3 billion pounds of old carpet in California since the Program started. 2025 is well ahead of our Recycling Rate goal, despite the toughest market conditions since the financial crisis of 2008.”

Carpet Diverted from Landfill

CARE reported that 82.7 million pounds of carpet was collected in the state in 2024, of which 90.5% was recycled. Some 2.9 million pounds of used carpet were sent for reuse, a 249% increase since 2021. In 2024 there were 390 collection points for carpet in California, of which 159 were CARE public drop-off sites. See the map of public sites.

Recycled Post-Consumer Carpet Products Grow

Collecting carpet is just part of the story: the recycled material needs to find new uses. Manufacturers take recycled output processed from the carpet fiber or backing and incorporate it into new or existing products, including broadloom carpet and carpet tile, carpet cushion/underlayment, building insulation, acoustic insulation, water heater blankets, bedding, pellets, plastic automotive components, packaging insulation, erosion control products, lightweight aggregate, absorbency products and various cement-related products. In 2024, 30 vendors incorporated recycled carpet material in 113 products.

Grants Fund Innovation and Operational Improvements

In 2024, the CARE California Carpet Stewardship Program managed 15 grants totaling $881,000 awarded to 14 entities, a significant investment that builds on the state’s carpet recycling success. Important advances were made in expanding convenient collection across the state, as well as tackling fiber identification and difficult-to-recycle post-consumer carpet (PCC) components. More than 680 jobs, direct and indirect, support the growing California carpet recycling industry.