DALTON, GA.—Shaw Industries, Inc. was named Large Recycler of the Year by the Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE), a joint industry-government initiative to promote carpet recycling, reuse and waste reduction of post consumer carpet. Shaw leads the carpet industry with its cradle-to-cradle recycling program that has recycled 100 million pounds of post consumer carpet to date through its Evergreen Nylon Recycling Facility.
Shaw president Randy Merritt says that the company’s commercial and residential carpet products embody the carpet-to-carpet design as a means to reduce landfill waste and virgin raw material usage. The company’s efforts have lead to increased amounts of recycled content available for the production of new Shaw products in the future.
“Shaw has come a long way in implementing its cradle-to-cradle products,” Merritt says. “Beyond the ability to design a product for reclamation and recycling through Evergreen, we had to organize and facilitate a nationwide collections network to service our customer’s recycling needs. It is a great honor for Shaw to be recognized by CARE for its recycling successes.”
Shaw’s nationwide collection network collaborates with entrepreneurs and businesses across the United States in establishing recycling centers for post consumer carpet. In conjunction with these businesses, Shaw has collected 165 million pounds of carpet, keeping it from landfills.
Importance of Nylon 6 Fibers
Shaw’s nylon brands, Eco Solution Q and Anso nylon, service the commercial and residential markets, respectively, and are nylon 6 fibers. Any carpet made with nylon 6 fiber can be processed at the Evergreen facility, the only operating facility of its kind in the world. The Evergreen process yields caprolactam monomer, the building block for new nylon, which gives Shaw the ability to increase the amount of recycled content in its products with the addition of post consumer recycled content.
The Shaw carpet recycling network operates collection points across the United States and in most major markets. Russ Delozier, the post consumer carpet collection manager, was named the CARE Person of the Year for 2007.
“Russ and his committed team have played a major role in the implementation of our collection network,” says Rick Ramirez, vice president of sustainability and environmental affairs. “I am pleased that CARE recognized him for the leadership role that he is playing in bringing carpet recycling options to our customers and communities at large.”
Shaw commercial brands The New Patcraft & Designweave, Shaw Contract Group and Shaw Hospitality Group manufacture carpet products with Eco Solution Q nylon, a Cradle to Cradle Certified product by MBDC. This certification contributes to Innovation in Design points through the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. Additionally, Shaw commercial brands feature EcoWorx backing technology for tile and broadloom carpet. Shaw guarantees that it will collect and recycle all EcoWorx carpet products into more EcoWorx at no charge to the customer.
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