Headquartered in Covington, Ga., Nyloboard is a start-up company with a family of synthetic waterproof construction materials under development. Nyloboard is made from post-industrial and post-consumer carpet.

One of the benefits of the product is that it does not contain cellulose. It is said to demonstrate superior screw retention, does not split, is dimensionally stable, and is resistant to termite attacks.

"There is one aspect of Nyloboard that Solutia found particularly interesting and filled with potential," said Dr. Robert Peoples Ph.D., director of carpet recycle and business development. "Solutia goes to great lengths to extrude high strength fiber and Nyloboard takes advantage of those fibers instead of destroying them in the process. This is a novel approach to the recycle challenge."

Most used carpet is sent to the landfill every year. "There's a lot of oil in those carpets and Nyloboard allows us to recover that value," Peoples added. "If we can find a way to get another use out of this material, or better yet, find ways to use it over and over, we could save a lot of valuable resources."