New guidance for carpet reuse and recycling

A new interactive guide has been published to aid and encourage the reuse and recycling of used carpet materials.

The ‘Guidance on re-use and recycling of used carpets and environmental considerations for specifying new carpet’ was commissioned by WRAP and authored by Carpet Recycling UK (CRUK) in the hopes of keeping more carpet fibre from refurbishment projects in use and diverting it from disposal routes, such as landfill.

Specifically targeted at facilities managers, procurers, architects, specifiers, housing associations and floor layers, the guidance outlines the best ways of preparing end-of-life carpet for reuse and recycling. 

It also provides best practice guidance for selecting new carpet, as well as suggesting ways to increase the product’s lifetime on the floor so as to further reduce overall environmental impact.

Report details

According to CRUK, floor finishes account for around 12 per cent of the environmental impact of a building project and carpeting in general (including tiles and broadloom) accounts for 58 per cent of the UK’s floor finishing market.

The report notes that the environmental impact of carpeting is particularly high as it is regularly replaced long before the end of its service life, and that carpet recycling is still relatively new (with landfill diversion at around 27 per cent in 2013, up from two per cent in 2008).

Guidance is provided to aid the identification of different types of end-of-life carpet (such as yarn materials, underlay composition, carpet construction etc), noting that doing so will help determine the appropriate second-life application of the product. For example, CRUK suggests that as needlefelt carpets (such as those used in offices and commercial buildings) are usually made entirely of polypropylene, they can be processed to recover fibres for plastics.

The guide also provides a map of reuse, recycling and recovery outlets for carpets in the UK, as well as details of their acceptance criteria.

CRUK goes on to outline the best practice guidelines for removing and storing used carpets so as to increase their potential for reuse, noting that it is important to inform refurbishment contractors how to uplift and store the flooring during the refurbishment process. For example, it states that carpet tiles should be ‘carefully uplifted, palletised and shrink-wrapped to achieve the best value from re-use and recycling’.

Instructions are also provided for the installation of new materials. For example, it lists particular fittings and adhesives (such as tackifier adhesives) that make it easy to remove the carpet without subfloor or tile damage.

The report stresses the environmental, social and economic case for reuse and recycling, noting that ‘as landfill taxes rise, carpet re-use and recycling is becoming an increasingly economically viable option’.

‘Planning early for reuse and recycling of carpets is crucial’

Laurence Bird, Director of CRUK commented: “There is growing pressure for commercial engagement in sustainable practices and it is becoming increasingly important for facility management [FM] professionals to understand and participate in such practices.

“As such, the document’s advice aims to guide FM professionals to demonstrate their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and gain Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) credits. To achieve these environmental benefits, planning early for reuse and recycling of carpets is crucial.”

Read the full ‘Guidance on re-use and recycling of used carpets and environmental considerations for specifying new carpet’.