Nothing Scary About AB 2398 Carpet Stewardship Bill: Werner Braun

Werner Braun: New California Recycling Bill Signed Into Law - More recycling, landfill diversion of carpet likely result

Carpet and Rug Institute President Werner Braun  addressed the newly signed AB 2398 Carpet Stewardship Bill in an article that appeared September 24 in the Dalton, Georgia Daily-Citizen, titled "Nothing scary about this change".

The bill, which will add a 5-cents per square yard consumer surcharge on all carpet sold in California, is designed to increase the recycling, reuse, and landfill diversion of postconsumer carpet in the state by incentivizing businesses that make products using postconsumer carpet content. State figures show that California accounts for approximately one-tenth of all carpet discarded in the United States each year — or roughly 350 million pounds.

The bill further requires manufacturers to submit a stewardship plan to the state office responsible for recycling. The Carpet America recovery Effort (CARE) has been selected to put the industry stewardship plan together and administer the program initially.

“The idea behind AB 2398 is that by rewarding results, successful carpet diversion efforts will be able to increase their activity and keep more and more carpet out of the landfill.

But even more exciting than CARE and the Carpet and Rug Institute’s involvement is the bill’s uniqueness: the “incentive fund” promotes private sector diversion growth. Because growth and change for California looks anything but scary; it is an excellent example of the carpet industry’s enduring commitment to true environmental sustainability.”

Thank you, Werner!

~Bethany