The state’s Carpet Stewardship Program 2021 annual report shows gains in recycling rate, yield and collection.
California’s Carpet Stewardship Program, an initiative of Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE), Dalton, Georgia, has released its 2021 annual report on carpet recycling rates, which shows significant progress in 2021.
According to a news release from CARE, an organization aimed at increasing postconsumer carpet recovery rates, the program achieved an all-time high recycling rate of 27.9 percent, exceeding the 26 percent goal set in its five-year plan in 2021.
The report states that 76.4 percent of all the carpet collected in California in 2021 was recycled into new products, exceeding the program’s goal of 60 percent. This percentage, called the yield, has grown from 28 percent from 10 years ago. The growth is from expanded processing capacity, expanding markets for postconsumer carpet materials and technological advances, according to the organization.
“2021 was another year of major progress in the face of multiple challenges,” says CARE Executive Director Bob Peoples in a release. “I credit the hard work of the recyclers, retailers, installers and drop-off site staff. Over the years, we have built a robust system for collecting and recycling carpets that is unequaled anywhere. This is the first time the program has met the ambitious goals set forth in the five-year plan, and we are on track to continue this amazing progress.”
According to the California Carpet Stewardship Program’s 2021 Annual Report:
88.5 million pounds of postconsumer carpet collected across the state;
67 million pounds of recycled output produced;
more than 81 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions (MTC02E) were saved;
$23.1 million in subsidies were paid to support collectors, processors and manufacturers of recycled carpet material; and
more than $1.5 million in grant funding was invested in 2021. Since 2017, CARE has paid more than $9.5 million to grow carpet recycling via grants for capital improvement, product testing and collection expansion.
By the end of 2021, 94 CARE-sponsored public drop-off sites were located in the state, with all 58 counties having at least one. This is an increase of more than 200 percent from 44 public drop-off sites in 2017.
Through subsidies, grants and technical assistance, CARE supports increased collection and processing of carpets into products containing recycled carpet material. Twenty-seven vendors currently incorporate carpet in about 103 products, including 10 vendors in California. These products have industrial and retail applications, like automotive plastic components, rubber transition mats, building materials and absorbency products.
Download the 2021 California Carpet Stewardship Program Annual Report here.
The Fremont, California, company’s new center remotely monitors productivity and maintenance needs in facilities using the RecycleOS artificial intelligence system.
EverestLabs, developer of RecycleOS, the first artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled operating system for recycling, has announced the opening of its Robot Operation Center (ROC), the first centralized monitoring service for robotic cells installed in materials recovery facilities (MRFs).
Monitored by the engineering staff at EverestLabs’ headquarters in Fremont, California, and a team in Chennai, India, the ROC helps optimize the performance of EverestLabs’ robotics cells in MRFs worldwide and removes the need for reactive maintenance.
Included in the price of the RecycleOS robotics solution, the ROC is monitored around the clock by a team of engineers and technologists who track productivity and maintenance needs, such as pick efficiency and accuracy, changes in the material stream on conveyor lines due to upstream issues, the need to replace suction cups and more. The linchpin of the ROC is EverestLabs’ RecycleOS at each MRF. RecycleOS is the only full-stack enterprise AI software and robotics solution for recycling plants, consumer packaged goods companies and packaging manufacturers.
“We not only hear from the operations center about necessary robotics cell maintenance proactively, but also about any big swings on materials distribution on the conveyor. As a result, we can address upstream equipment issues (optical sorters, etcetera) at a faster pace,” Director of Operations at Bay Counties SMaRT Jeff Dobert says. “Thanks to this team, our plant operators, shift supervisors and mechanics can focus on other responsibilities around the facility without worrying about robot maintenance.”
Operators at MRFs work hard to keep up with the pace of the materials they receive and process, while also managing equipment and addressing staffing issues. The monitoring service helps deliver maximum recovery with minimal effort from plant operators. As a result, plant operators can focus on running their plant and tending to robotic cells only when needed. MRF operators are experiencing a 25-percent to 40-percent increase in recovery with EverestLabs as there is no unmonitored downtime that can take hours or days to correct.
EverestLabs founder and CEO Jagadeesh Ambati says MRF operators deserve the best robotics software technology can deliver.
“We opened the Robot Operations Center to help MRF operators lead recycling into the 21st century,” he says. “The new center allows us to further provide MRFs with access to full-stack enterprise AI software and robotics that assure vertical integration, efficiency and allow for continuous improvement at plants.”
The event is scheduled for Nov. 8-11 in Italy.
Environmental challenges and opportunities in North African and sub-Saharan countries will be the focus of part of the debate at Ecomondo and Key Energy 2022, taking place in Italy at Rimini Expo Centre Nov. 8-11. The events are organized by Italian Exhibition Group (IEG).
IEG CEO Corrado Peraboni says, “The most comprehensive exhibition in the field of circular and renewable energy, a platform for business and research, will, in fact, also become a veritable powerhouse for networking and exchanging opportunities between Europe and Africa.”
The global conferences were developed by the Ecomondo and Key Energy Technical-Scientific Committees, chaired respectively by Fabio Fava, deputy rector of the University of Bologna for Industrial Research, Territorial Cooperation and Innovation, and researcher Gianni Silvestrini, and will include participation from the European Commission. The conferences and seminars will feature international, national and local institutions, public and private companies and the scientific world, according to IEG.
The Ecomondo program includes a session titled Waste as Resources: Innovative Technologies for Recycling And Recovery, which will present technological innovations that can improve the efficiency of secondary material valorization, increasing the circularity of materials and decreasing energy consumption. In Advanced Experiences on Circular Economy in the WEEE Sector, panelists will share best practices in place from companies throughout the value chain, from design and innovative business models to social aspects of waste management. Towards Transparency: The Role of Sustainable Finance Against Greenwashing will explore sustainable finance and its role in achieving the European Green Deal targets and a sustainable postpandemic recovery.
African embassies, governments and institutions will meet at the second edition of Africa Green Growth to discuss growth opportunities in the fields of green hydrogen and the nexus of water energy and food, with a focus on the circular economy and youth entrepreneurship in Africa’s ever-increasing integration into the world economy. Africa Green Growth will be organized by RES4Africa and the Ecomondo-Key Energy Scientific Committee with the support of the Italian Trade Agency, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
The transition from carbon-intensive fossil fuels will be addressed in Transition Towards Carbon Neutrality, an event chaired by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Bio-, Nano- and Converging Technologies (BNCT) task force, that will deal with the urgent need for a global carbon management strategy for the chemical sector that would endorse the sustainable circular economy approach.
Furthermore, the European Commission will attend Water Projects Europe: Actions Needed for Water Scarcity and Drought, with a focus on the Mediterranean, organized with Water Europe, which will focus on EU-funded projects addressing water-shortage challenges. Francesco Fatone, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Biotechnology at the University of Verona, will chair the afternoon discussion.
A number of recycling-related bills have been passed and await Gov. Newsom's signature.
As California’s 2022 legislative session drew to a close at the end of August, a number of recycling-related bills had passed the House and Senate and are awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature.
S.B. 1013, sponsored by Sen. Toni Atkins, Sen. Bill Dodd, Rep. Jacqui Irwin and Rep. Philip Ting, all Democrats, expands California’s bottle bill to add a deposit to wine bottles and distilled spirit containers.
Atkins says, “S.B. 1013 is historic change that is 40 years in the making. I want to commend the wine industry, distilled spirits industry, environmental advocates and other groups who have come together to support this landmark proposal.”
S.B. 1013, if signed into law, would redefine “beverage” to include distilled spirits, wine or wine from which alcohol has been removed in whole or in part, including sparkling or carbonated versions. It would require distributors to pay a redemption payment for every beverage container sold or offered for sale in the state of 5 cents for those with a capacity of less than 24 fluid ounces and 10 cents for those with a capacity of 24 fluid ounces or more to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) and requires the department to deposit the funds into the California Beverage Container Recycling Fund. The act also requires those beverage containers to have a refund value of 5 cents and 10 cents, respectively, and to contain specified amounts of postconsumer recycled plastic content per year. The bill would require wine or distilled spirits that are packaged in a box, bladder, pouch or similar container to have a redemption payment and refund value of 25 cents and would grant an additional two years to comply with the act’s postconsumer recycled plastic content requirements.
The bill also would establish a Recycled Glass Processing Incentive Grant Program for applicants who demonstrate the ability to expand glass cullet processing in the state and can match or exceed the amount of the grant awarded.
A.B. 2784, which was introduced by Assemblymembers Ting and Irwin, would establish thermoform plastic minimum recycled content standards that start at 10 percent postconsumer thermoform recycled plastic by Jan. 1, 2025, and increase to no less than 20 percent or 30 percent postconsumer recycled content per year on or after July 1, 2030, depending on the recycling rate for the resin used to make the container.
S.B. 1046, introduced by Sens. Susan Talamantes Eggman and Lena Gonzalez, would ban plastic produce bags starting in 2025 and make it easier for consumers to tell the difference between compostable and noncompostable bags by no longer allowing green/brown tinting for noncompostable bags. This extends an earlier ban on plastic carryout bags that was enacted in late 2016.
S.B. 1215, introduced by Sen. Josh Newman, would add battery-embedded products to the Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003, expanding that program to cover new and refurbished products with nonremovable batteries and establishing an advanced disposal fee that consumers would pay beginning Jan. 1, 2026. Beginning Aug. 1, 2028, CalRecycle, in collaboration with the Department of Toxic Substances Control, could establish more than one covered electronic waste recycling fee for covered battery-embedded products based on categories of those products. The charge would be adjusted annually based on the California Consumer Price Index.
A.B. 2440, the Responsible Battery Recycling Act of 2022, introduced by Assemblymember Irwin, would establish a manufacturer-run stewardship program for alkaline and rechargeable batteries and require all retail chains that sell batteries to provide free collection for consumers.
Several industry associations have submitted comments to the GSA in opposition to the proposed rulemaking.
The Washington-based General Services Administration (GSA), which manages federal property and serves as the government’s purchasing authority, has proposed to update policies related to single-use plastics in purchased products and in packaging materials.
According to the proposed rulemaking, GSA wants to determine “how to best reduce single-use plastics from packaging while limiting burden and liability” on its industry and logistics partners. The administration intends to use public comments in order to craft requirements and reporting mechanisms to reduce the use of single-use plastics.
GSA initially published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking July 7, seeking public comment on revising its policies by Sept. 6; however, the administration is extending the public comment period to Sept. 27 to provide additional time for interested parties to provide input.
Several industry associations have expressed concerns regarding GSA’s proposal to reduce the use of single-use plastics from packaging.
The Washington-based Plastics Industry Association (Plastics) filed comments to the GSA, expressing concerns that this proposed rulemaking could ban the purchase of single-use plastics by federal government agencies.
“If this proposal moves forward, it will run directly counter to the administration’s environmental goals to reduce emissions,” says Matt Seaholm, president and CEO of Plastics. “This proposal would not only cost taxpayers millions and millions of dollars, it would enforce the use of products and materials that will have a much larger environmental footprint than the plastic products the administration would be looking to phase out.”
Seaholm says Plastics compiled examples for the GSA of how plastics can perform better from an economic and environmental perspective than other available materials.
He adds, “Our industry is investing billions of dollars to recycle more plastic waste in the U.S. We would welcome the opportunity to collaborate with the administration to develop effective recycling solutions that reduce plastic waste through smart investments in infrastructure, technology and education.”
The Washington-based American Chemistry Council (ACC) also has expressed concerns related to the GSA’s proposed rulemaking on products containing single-use plastics purchased by the federal government.
ACC’s comments to the GSA state that reducing or banning the purchase of products containing single-use plastics could increase the government’s greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint because lifecycle analysis studies have shown that plastics can lower GHG when compared with alternative packaging materials. Additionally, ACC says this rulemaking could increase waste sent to landfill as alternative materials typically result in items that weigh more than those made with plastics.
The association says it is encouraging the GSA “to follow the science when it comes to product procurement. According to multiple studies, including most recently a report by McKinsey & Co., plastics have a lower GHG impact than alternative materials in 13 out of 14 applications studied. A single-use plastics ban would run contrary to the administration’s important goal of reducing GHG emissions.”