Dan's Papers - May 9, 2008 - Ingenous Carpet Recycling Earns Energy Globe Award

Carpeting - forget about just taking it for granted; who doesn't have some? Even the smallest and barest residences have some swath of fabric somewhere on the floor. And what do we do when those rugs get frayed, discolored or just plain smelly? Naturally, we just buy more and chuck the old stuff. Or at least you try to...

According to the East Hampton Recycling Center, carpeting falls under "prohibited and limited items," considered non-reusable debris that gets lumped in with other toxic junk such as fluorescent lights and asbestos waste At first, you might wonder why your former comfy rug is in a line-up in with such notorious materials, until you find out that most of them have been treated with pesticides (to protect against insect and microbial damage), not to mention the chemicals homeowners apply in the process of cleaning. Furthermore, carpeting cannot disintegrate on its own, yet much of the poisons hidden in sacked rugs can easily leak into the ground, or end up released into the atmosphere when garbage gets burned. So much for taking it to the dump...obviously the East End - check that - the world needs a way to dispose of old carpeting, and it just so happens that one of the world leaders in this field happens to reside in our respective backyard.

Frank J. Levy of Quogue, president of Stellamcor, Inc. (which imports textile machinery to the U.S and Canada), has helped to create a new technology that recycles used carpets, and his efforts have recently been recognized on the world stage. Mr. Levy, in a combined effort with business partner Sergio Dell'Orco, president of Dell'Orco & Villani, S.r.l. (an Italian company that manufactures textile recycling machinery) head a company called Post Consumer Carpet (PCC), and they have been named the national winner (and are one of three international contestants) in the "Earth" category of the World Energy Globe Award.

The problem of carpet refuse goes way beyond the East Hampton Recycling Center. In the United States alone, over 2.5 million tons of used carpets are annually dumped into U.S. landfills. As mentioned earlier, these items will not break down on their own, due in large part to the difficulty of separating oil-based derivatives in the carpeting from each other to allow for the dual recycling of the fiber shag and backing. However, PCC has created new technology that can efficiently take the materials apart, freeing them for reuse. The processing provides millions of pounds of nylon and polypropylene (a polymer used in several applications, such as packaging, textiles, plastic parts and automotive components), with any other extraneous remnants powdered and then used as a filler in the processing of plastic products. Simultaneously, this technology helps to keep toxins out of the environment and saves energy that was once used to create completely brand-new carpeting from scratch.

This tech has already been put to use, as PCC has licensed it to Interface, Inc., the world's third largest carpet manufacturer. The Post Consumer Carpet machinery is currently running in LaGrange, Georgia since last September 2007, and additional lines are in the immediate future. So far, they have recycled 15,000 tons of carpet, saved approximately 174,000 barrels of oil, and 90 million gallons of water. According to a statement from an Interface rep to the press, they feel that the PCC's creation will allow their company to completely eliminate any damaging impact on the environment from their processing by the year 2020.

As wonderful as Mr. Levy's company has been doing, however, they still have a bit of personal ground yet to cover: the World Energy Globe international competition. Although a strong choice, PCC is up against a Peruvian community-based waste management program as well as a German "solar park" that powers 12 residences and an office building. The global winner will be decided May 26, and will land a grand prize worth 10,000 euros (almost $16,000). Needless to say, win or lose, the value gained from Mr. Levy's work is quite a bit higher in the long run.