Interface Lauds California Carpet Recycling Bill
New California Legislation Moves Us Closer to a Circular Economy
Hello Interface Customers,
I’m writing with some exciting news. This weekend, Governor Brown of California signed into law an important piece of legislation that will take us a step closer to the realization of a circular economy in the State of California. The Governor signed into law AB 1158, enhancing California’s carpet recycling program.
At Interface, we see this new law as a positive step forward to driving a truly circular economy in our industry. We have been committed with our own ReEntry product take back program, and have been recycling product for more than two decades. But, we felt it so important to push for this legislation that we joined a broad coalition of organizations to support and lobby for this bill. Meanwhile, the majority of our industry – including the carpet industry’s trade association and most of our competitors – aggressively opposed it or chose to do nothing.
Doing the right thing – in this case supporting legislation that improves recycling in the U.S.’s largest state – is in our DNA at Interface. We took this step for our customers, our people and the environment. It’s important for us to be good stewards of the waste our industry creates, as carpet is one of the top 10 landfill materials, consuming 3.2 percent of total landfill space. We know that advocacy sometimes makes people uneasy, but advocacy is also sometimes necessary. Failure to speak up changes nothing, and if we want to create a circular economy, we need to change our current approach.
How does AB 1158 support more carpet recycling?Â
This new law refines the State of California’s commitment to create a recycling system for carpet products. It establishes tangible goals for the recycling program including targets for recycling rates by annual deadlines. It creates a multi stakeholder council to provide input to the state’s organization and importantly, it requires the state of California to purchase carpet with post-consumer recycled content. Additionally, it prohibits spending assessment money on incineration, as some in the industry have skirted landfill diversion through incineration, rather than recycling, of reclaimed product.
The State of California is the only state with a law and a recycling program like this. It provides subsidies to recyclers of California carpet to help them grow and, consequently, raise the recycling rates in the state. State supported carpet recycling like this is important to help transition toward a circular economy model, sending a market signal to manufacturers and providing the needed certainty and incentives to help establish recycling infrastructure.
How can you participate in driving a circular approach?Â
There are a few key steps you can take to help support this effort. First, make sure you include post-consumer recycled content requirements in your purchasing criteria. Second, ask critical questions of carpet manufacturers to ensure they have active recycling programs; ask for details on what happens after the products are collected for take back. Third, encourage more carpet recycling whenever you have the opportunity to do so – raise it with your customers on refurbishment projects and talk about it with general contractors.
Together we can make the circular economy a reality, and a circular economy is also a low carbon economy, which will help us address global warming and create a climate fit for life. We applaud Governor Brown for signing this new bill into law, with California taking the lead on a critical issue in our industry. To learn more about Interface’s approach to the circular economy or to find out more about this recent development, email Eric Nelson at Eric.Nelson@interface.com.
Sincerely,
Jay D. Gould
Interface CEO
Press release below:
Interface Lauds California Carpet Recycling Bill
AB 1158 to Set Clear Goals for Industry Recycling Rates
INTERFACE, Inc. (Nasdaq: TILE) expresses its support for AB 1158, signed into law by California Gov. Jerry Brown Oct. 14. The law builds on and enhances the state’s current carpet recycling program through the implementation of clear-cut goals for recycling, a multi-stakeholder council and requiring new state carpet purchases to include a specified amount of post-consumer recycled content.
“We see this new law as a positive step forward in driving a truly circular economy in our industry,” said Interface CEO Jay Gould. “While we have been committed to recycling product with our own REENTRY® product take back program for two decades, we felt it so important to push for this legislation that we joined a broad coalition of organizations to support and lobby for the bill. Meanwhile, the majority of our industry – including the carpet industry’s trade association and most of our competitors – either aggressively opposed it or chose to do nothing.”
“Doing the right thing – in this case, supporting legislation that improves recycling in the largest state in the country – is in our DNA at Interface,” continued Gould. “We took this step for our customers, our people and the environment.”
Current Recycling Commitments and Looking Forward
Interface has been committed to recycling carpet at end of life for 20 years, diverting more than 350 million pounds of materials from landfill in the U.S. alone, through its ReEntry product take back program. ReEntry recycles reclaimed fiber for use in new products and reuses backing materials in the creation of new backing.
While Interface has demonstrated its commitment to recycling through ReEntry, the company’s leadership recognizes that there must be a robust infrastructure in place to make a lasting impact. “This law is a monumental step toward widespread reclamation and recycling within the industry,” said Gould. “We hope this bill and the incentives for which it provides will spur opportunities for new businesses and the industry to support a greater, nationwide effort, with customers driving demand. In the meantime, Interface will continue to take back and recycle carpet through ReEntry and focus on our Mission Zero goal of zero environmental footprint by 2020.”
About Interface
Interface, Inc. is the world’s largest manufacturer of modular carpet, and has recently expanded into modular resilient flooring with a new luxury vinyl tile line. Our hard and soft tiles are designed to work together in an integrated flooring system. We are committed to sustainability and minimizing our impact on the environment while enhancing shareholder value. Our Climate Take Back mission focuses on driving positive impacts in the world to create a climate fit for life. Recently, Interface was named third on GlobeScan and SustainAbility’s 20th Annual Sustainability Leaders Survey. Interface is the only company to earn a place on the list every year since its inception in 1997. For additional information: INTERFACE.COM and BLOG.INTERFACE.COM. Follow Interface on TWITTER, YOUTUBE, FACEBOOK, PINTEREST, LINKEDIN, INSTAGRAM, and VIMEO.
