CARE Webinar: AB 2398 California Carpet Recycling Bill

CARE Online Webinar Explains AB 2398 California Carpet Recycling Bill

The Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) has posted two important resources on its website that help clarify questions about carpet recycling in California. CARE has posted both a video and PowerPoint explaining the details of California’s AB 2398, the nation’s first extended producer responsibility legislation that deals specifically with carpet. The one hour, eleven minute video uses the PowerPoint presentation, with added narration from CARE Executive Director Georgina Sikorski, as well as a question and answer session following the presentation.

• Link to playback of CARE Webinar on AB 2398 California Carpet Recycling Bill
• Link to CARE PowerPoint presentation on AB 2398 California Recycling Bill

The video explains the goals of AB 2398 as well as the relationships among the parties involved in the process, including carpet manufacturers, distributors and retailers; the state of California as represented by CalRecycle; CARE, and carpet processors and recyclers.

Basically, the goal of AB 2398 is to increase the landfill diversion and recycling of postconsumer carpet generated in California. Beginning July 1, 2011, carpet manufacturers will add an assessment of $0.05 per square yard on the purchase price of ALL carpet sold in California. Dealers and retailers must make this assessment visible on all invoices. One significant aspect differentiating AB 2398 from other extended producer legislation is that the monies collected will not be awarded to the state, but will instead be used to incentivize the growth of diversion, recycling and markets for secondary products made from post-consumer carpet by rewarding the innovators and entrepreneurs who are finding sustainable solutions to the problem of carpet in landfills.

Both the PowerPoint presentation and webinar contain a link to the AB 2398 bill document so that it can be read its entirety.

The video points out that, while there is significant work that remains to be done before AB 2398 takes effect in July of 2011, the presentation is a comprehensive overview of the bill and its implications for all parties involved. Ms. Sikorski describes AB 2398 as “a new day for us in the world of carpet recycling.”

~ Bethany