California Governor Gavin Newsom last week signed into law an extended producer responsibility (EPR) program for carpets that overhauls the state's carpet recycling program.
The law establishes a minimum mandate for carpet-to-carpet recycling, requiring new carpets to contain at least 5pc recycled carpet by 2028. It also requires a visual mark to identify synthetic carpet and greatly increases fees for a producer responsibility organization (PRO) that fails to meet carpet recycling mandates.
The National Stewardship Action Council, an organization that advocates for a circular economy, said that the law will make "critical improvements" to the state's carpet recycling program.
The carpet recycling mandate is intended to avoid the "downcycling" of bottles into carpet, as bottles are more easily recycled than carpet.
Since 2011, California has required consumers to pay a carpet stewardship fee to fund the Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE), a manufacturer-run organization that collects and recycles scrap carpet.
CARE told Argus in July that the bill as proposed would upend the institution by replacing it with an inexperienced PRO to manage carpet recycling. The revised bill that Newsom signed on 27 September allows CARE or another industry group to serve as a PRO that would manage the carpet stewardship program. The law increases state government scrutiny on the PRO and increases fines for mismanagement of the program.
The author of the bill, California Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D), said that the law was in direct response to CARE's mismanagement of carpet recycling, and would strengthen accountability and transparency for the program.
"Even with constant intervention and enforcement actions by CalRecycle and the California legislature, CARE's failure to successfully manage California's carpet recycling program has resulted in more carpet in landfills, wasted consumer fee money, constant litigation with the state, and serious damage to recycling infrastructure in this state," Aguiar-Curry said.
CARE did not immediately respond to request for comment.
The bill previously included materials such as vinyl and polyurethane flooring as part of the EPR program, but those sections were removed after industry organizations complained about their inclusion in a carpet bill.
