We had an opportunity to sit down with Bob Peoples, the Executive Director of the Carpet America Recovery Effort or CARE, a man who in 2002 took lead of the organization during its formation and left a few years ago to take over the Directorship of the ACS Green Chemistry Institute. He since has returned to CARE. Bob jokes the group is so committed to the concept of recycling it has even recycled its director.
At the time this whole recycling and reuse idea became a reality in the carpet industry, the EPA, several state governments and some NGOs came together to launch what is really a new industry. This group agreed to set targets for the diversion of carpet from landfills, set dates when they would achieve these goals, document their progress in annual reports and create an independent third-party organization to enable its growth. That was how CARE was born. The group is made up of a diverse group of players including carpet producers, post-consumer carpet collectors, recyclers, processors and companies that fashion products made from spent carpet.