Carpet Recycling

I had some carpet torn up in my client's house in Los Angeles recently.  It's a home makeover story I'm doing for a really great magazine (all I can say for now!) that will be out later this year.

But one great thing I found was the Carpet America Recovery Effort website that helps you find collection sites around the United States that will take old carpet and padding for recycling.

Here I am hauling rolled up carpet to a site I found in Los Angeles.  All I had to do was show up and drop it off.   How funny is it that I'm bringing just a few rolls of carpet to add to this mountain of old carpet!

 

And here's Jules Moore, my favorite stylist/designer in Los Angeles who is helping me with the makeover.   We couldn't believe how much old carpet was there.  It was like being an amusement park!

The old carpet is bound together and sent to a factory for processing, where it becomes little nylon pellets which gets spun into new nylon.  That recycled nylon string is then made into new carpet!   Carpet to carpet!  

More on the carpet recycling process in a future blog all about the home makeover when the magazine comes out....

Comments

[Celene]

great, great tip as we have 2 bedrooms about to lose their wall-to -wall!! you are always inspiring danny.

[Liz]

It's encouraging to know that they have come up with a way to recycle carpeting. I heard somewhere that we change carpeting in our homes about every seven years. That is shocking to me. Let's hope all cities start carpet recycling projects, to keep this stuff out of landfills. Hats off to you, Danny, for seeking out this place for your client's old carpeting.

[alex]

Thank you so much for this info! I'm in Santa Monica and have been holding onto carpet that I haven't known how to safely dispose of! Now I do :)

[alex]

Thank you so much for this info! I'm in Santa Monica and have been holding onto carpet that I haven't known how to safely dispose of! Now I do :)

[Julia Smith]

Thats great.I can finally get rid of the old carpets at home.Thanks for giving such wonderful information.

[Alison]

I just found out about that they have a place to recycle carpet here in Portland Oregon. I really want to get thte old toxic carpet out of my rooms. I just wish that it was not more expensive to recycle than taking the carpet to the rubbish transfer station as garbage. I want to do the green thing, but it hurts my very limited funds. (How much do they charge for it in LA?, not that I could send my carpeting there...ha ha)

[Alison]

I just found out about that they have a place to recycle carpet here in Portland Oregon. I really want to get the old toxic carpet out of my rooms. I just wish that it was not more expensive to recycle than taking the carpet to the rubbish transfer station as garbage. I want to do the green thing, but it hurts my very limited funds. (How much do they charge for it in LA?, not that I could send my carpeting there...ha ha)

[Alison]

I just found out about that they have a place to recycle carpet here in Portland Oregon. I really want to get the old toxic carpet out of my rooms. I just wish that it was not more expensive to recycle than taking the carpet to the rubbish transfer station as garbage. I want to do the green thing, but it hurts my very limited funds. (How much do they charge for it in LA?, not that I could send my carpeting there...ha ha)

[Joanne Greene]

It was great to meet you at the Northridge JC Penneys store this weekend! Thanks so much for taking time to talk with my husband and I about everything.

[Brady]

Great job! Can you post some info on the collection site you used?

I'm afraid I haven't been as successful at recycling my carpeting in LA. Back in February I contacted the four or five sites listed on the Carpet America Recovery Effort site for my area. Most were either no longer in business or would not answer the phone/emails. The one I was able to contact would not accept carpeting from individuals. I stopped by one of the unresponsive sites near my office in Van Nuys. They explained that they hadn't been accepting carpeting for some time.

It seems like the info posted at the Carpet Recovery site for LA is a bit outdated. The list needs to be updated and revised. Unfortunately, after living with my carpet remnants for 6 months, I gave up and dumpstered them.

So, long story short, any info you have on how to do this successfully would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[ginger]

In ever heard of this in my own back yard in S.Calif. now i do thanks to you danny.Absolutely wonderful that you posted about this Always looking to go grenner!
hugs ginger

[Cami Gordon]

Hi. Where is the place in Los Angeles where you dropped off the old carpet? LA Fiber won't accept residential donations. Thanks! I need to get rid of this stuff by tomorrow!

[Sarah Lau]

Hi! I have the same question as above... where is this place in Loa Angeles that you dropped off the old carpet? The one in your pictures?? This is great info! Thanks!

[Jen Maxwell]

Hi! My beloved crock pot has failed and I dread throwing the whole thing into the land fill so I am going to recycle the insert. This Christmas,I will fill it with paper white bulbs and pebbles. Thank you for your constant inspiration and happy commentaries. Yours, Jen Maxwell

[Julian Sanchez]

My name is Julian Sanchez and I am working as a program coordinator for Minority AIDS Project. As a non-profit we are on a very tight budget and with the recent budget cuts...EVEN TIGHTER! I was curious how to receive some of this recycled carpet for our agency as ours is at least 10 years old and desperately needs to be replaced. Thank you....Julian