What Happens To Your Old Carpet?

Indoor air pollution in the home comes from many sources, but are you aware that carpets are pollutants when in the home and when removed?

Carpets are made of fibers and glues. When a new carpet is laid in your home, it is glued to your floor. The glues are made from a variety of different chemicals.

When you decide to remove your old carpet, what happens now?

Carpets are not only home to a great many allergens and pests, but they are also very likely to continue to off-gas volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can be a powerful indoor pollutant. Many people are tearing out their old carpets and carpet pads in favor of bare floors and smaller rugs that can be more thoroughly cleaned. But, what happens to it all? A large proportion of the carpet installed in the US after 1940 is wholly or partly synthetic and incapable of decomposition.

It is estimated that by 2012, nearly 7 billion pounds of old carpet will be discarded in the US alone. There is currently no infrastructure in place to recycle old carpet. This is complicated by the complicated nature of most carpets, with several different types of complicated materials that can be hard to separate from one another for further processing. Some carpets are able to be recycled into a large number of far more inert construction and home decorating items including synthetic lumber and roof tiles.

Many people today try to sell or give away their used carpet in a way of recycling. It can be cut into carpet squares or re-dyed if stained, so as to prolong its destiny into our environment.