The Challenges of Recycling Commercial Carpet
When managing construction projects, lots of attention is paid to what is being constructed…less attention goes to what is being deconstructed or torn out. And yet, for the project to be successful, deconstruction/recycling must be part of any project’s plan from the very beginning. Upon tear-out at a commercial site, used carpet tile is stacked and secured on pallets and transported to a reuse center for sorting by condition. If the product doesn’t meet reuse quality, it is then staged to be sent back to the appropriate manufacturer for recycling.
What are the options for tear-out commercial carpet?
The first and best way to repurpose old commercial carpet is donating it to charities or educational institutions where it has a second life. If that can’t happen, alternatives are:
1. Returning it to the original manufacturer for circular recycling. Mills Tarkett, Interface, and Shaw take back some of their product lines for recycling into new carpet or flooring products. Typically, the carpet manufacturer will only take back their own carpet products for recycling, but some manufacturers will take back competitors’ product and will work with them to return the material.
2. Sending to a recycler who will mechanically recycle the material into an appropriate raw feedstock for other industries.
The most important factor in successful carpet recycling is…humans. The process requires someone who understands that carpet can be recycled and who cares enough to make it happen. Each project needs a champion who keeps the parties on track and troubleshoots where needed. We spoke with one champion, Beth Deye of Summit Construction, about what she learned from leading a successful commercial carpet tile recycling project.
A Successful Case in San Francisco
In 2022, Summit Construction took on a project with Sephora in downtown San Francisco. The 286,000 square foot office space had been previously occupied by Salesforce. Unfortunately, the existing carpet was far from Sephora’s black and white brand and had to be replaced, resulting in over 16,000 yards of carpet tile potentially going to landfill. The Summit team knew the project was one of the largest renovations in the city and opted to competitively bid the new flooring scope. To help support Sephora’s sustainability mission, Summit added a requirement that the awarded vendor must recycle the existing carpet. Word of this requirement was communicated to the general contractor and their demolition and flooring sub-contractors.
Summit’s Beth Deye noted, “First off, the carpet manufacturer had to be identified. We had the existing flooring specs from Salesforce so it was easy to know what carpet we were recycling and how to get it back to Interface for recycling. Writing this requirement into our RFP was a challenge because it was something we hadn’t done before. We had to do some research to get the information and wording right. After the sub-contractor award, we were constantly following up with the manufacturer, the general contractor and the sub-contractor to ensure everyone was making progress and had a plan in place once demolition started. “
The result was 59,669 pounds of carpet tile diverted from landfill, and returned to the original manufacturer as part of their takeback program, at no additional expense to the client.
Beth encourages others to champion recycling: “Recycling takes extra time and coordination but if you know how to leverage the market, you can make things happen.”
CARE’s Commercial Carpet Takeback program
Increasing amounts of residential tear-out have been going to recycling in California in recent years; the state’s carpet recycling rate (the amount of carpet recycled as a percent of carpet sold) reached 35.1% in 2023, up from 15% in 2018. Now Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) is working to increase the amount of commercial carpet that is reused and recycled. To that end, the nonprofit has started a commercial carpet takeback program. Commercial broadloom or carpet tile jobs in California of more than 5,000 square yards may be eligible for CARE’s free takeback program.
(posted 11/21/24)
About the Author
Theodore Stray (tstray@carpetrecovery.org) is a seasoned senior executive dedicated to driving change and navigating complex stakeholder missions. With a unique blend of entrepreneurial and corporate experience, he leverages his deep expertise in sustainability and the circular economy—particularly in zero landfill initiatives and dematerialization—to empower organizations toward environmentally responsible practices. Committed to advancing sustainability, he has successfully partnered with clients ranging from international manufacturers to local startups, including significant contributions in the flooring industry.
