Leigh Fibers has launched the Spartanburg, S.C.-based Leigh Carpet & Plastics Recycling LLC unit, to divert discarded carpet and plastic from landfills and turn it into fibers and densified products used by plastics molders. Current and near-term equipment will provide the capacity to keep more than 100 million pounds of used carpet out of landfills annually, according to the company.

“Every ton of carpet we can recycle saves 198 gallons of oil and prevents the emission of two metric tons of greenhouse gases,” said George Martin, Leigh Fibers’ exec vp marketing and sales. “Our goal is to reduce the nearly 3.5 million pounds of post-consumer carpet waste that goes into landfills each year, while giving customers the high-quality materials they need to mold new products.”

The new venture is already reprocessing nylon 6, nylon 6.6, polypropylene, and polyester carpet fibers at a one million sq. ft. facility.