10% decrease in carpet waste for 2019
Website Editor • June 26, 2020
There was a 10% decline in the amount of carpet waste in 2019 according to the latest figures from Carpet Recycling UK (CRUK) – but the organisation reports sustained strong interest in recycling and substantial industry achievements.
CRUK’s latest Achievements Report says the volume of carpet waste diverted from landfill in the UK was 158,577 tonnes (compared to 175,252 tonnes in 2018), with the majority being post-consumer broadloom carpets compared to carpet tiles or post-manufacture waste.
CRUK Manager Adnan Zeb-Khan suggested that the 2019 reduction in collected carpet waste is due to a number of factors, such as market uncertainty, additional taxes/lower sales, company mergers/acquisitions and the waste sector seeing reduced waste streams generated within the UK.
On the flip side he cited "increasing awareness towards end of life treatment and disposal of carpet waste" among flooring businesses within the supply chain, and added: “More than 60 flooring suppliers are now CRUK members, liaising with us in the development of recycling options for their customers. Enquiries from the waste/demolition and construction sectors are also increasing.”
On the flip side he cited "increasing awareness towards end of life treatment and disposal of carpet waste" among flooring businesses within the supply chain, and added: “More than 60 flooring suppliers are now CRUK members, liaising with us in the development of recycling options for their customers. Enquiries from the waste/demolition and construction sectors are also increasing.”
Positive highlights from the report included:
- Carpet tiles reuse has more than doubled
- Use in carpet fibre recovery was up by more than 50%
- Plastics recycling (from synthetic fibres) went up by just under 50%
- Small increase in surfaces material for the equestrian market
- 660 enquiries from across the supply chain in 2019, compared to 624 in 2018
- More than 150 enquiries from flooring suppliers in 2019, versus 130 in 2018
Since it started in 2007, CRUK has enabled both members and non-members to divert around 1.25 million tonnes of carpet waste otherwise destined for landfill.
CRUK currently has around 110 members and its core funders are Balsan, Betap, Brintons Carpets, Cormar Carpets, DESSO, ege Carpets, Lifestyle Floors/ Headlam and Milliken.
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