How To Recycle Your Carpet

For us here at Knox Carpets, letting go of carpet is like letting go of a dear friend. We hate it, we abhor it, we loathe it, we never look forward to it. The mood in the office is one of despondency when we need to say goodbye to any of the carpet in our inventory. If we’re sending it to a new home, great– that’s a cause for celebration. If we’re saying goodbye and sending it to a less happy place, then expect grumpy grimaces of despair.

We know it’s a little bit extreme, but we’re no longer alone in this emotion. As of late, more and more families, businesses and even government agencies are realizing just how much carpet we throw straight into the bin and forget about. People underestimate the value of the material in so many different capacities and now groups are stepping up to do something about it.

The first challenge was, well, what? What do we do with all of this excess carpet no longer being used. Every year there are tonnes and tonnes of carpet buried in landfills around Australia. People walk away and forget about it but synthetic carpets don’t break down. Even worse, wool carpets will decompose under anaerobic conditions and produce methane. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, not something that we want to be producing mass quantities of. And that’s just the carpet that is being dumped legally. There is probably exponentially more out there that we don’t even know about.

We want to divert carpet from these landfills. We want to make the smart choices to help the planet on which we live, and brainstorm and develop ways to reduce, reuse, recycle.

Reducing should be easy if you work with Knox Carpets. After all, our carpets should last a lifetime. You should only need to replace your carpet or flooring with us, if you’re looking for a different size or style.

Reusing and recycling are also important. You reduce waste when old products are either reused in a new way, or even manufactured into new products. You’ve also immediately reduced energy use and emissions.

Fun fact- Australia has a $1.5 BILLION carpet industry. We’re all working together to find ways to reduce, reuse, recycle. Our friends at Dunlop have even developed “EnviroTred“, an underlay that’s 100% recyclable. Our carpets can also be recycled into different building materials.

Here are a couple of ideas for you to think about, if it’s time to upgrade your rug:

• Sell it! Make some money. You can put an advert in your community paper or look online for the next home for your beloved carpet.
• Share it! Give it to your friends and family or check out ‘freecycle’. You can also donate your carpet to a charity, many of which will come right to your front door to pick it up and haul it away.
• Repurpose it! Old carpet is great for insulating composting heaps, which help keep weeds under control. Reach out to your local gardening group. If your carpet is right in wool, it will also make great mulch.
• Be smart! If you’ve exhausted all options and it just needs to go, then be responsible about how you dispose of your carpet. Reach out to your local authority to see if there is a collection service around you.

When in doubt, reach out to us. Though we hate saying goodbye to carpet, we love seeing it go to a better place.