Yellowstone National Park, carpet industry, form recycling partnership

In his June 3, 2011 column titled “Carpet industry ‘making it in America’” for the Dalton Daily Citizen, Carpet and Rug Institute president Werner Braun describes an innovative partnership between the carpet industry and Yellowstone National Park that helps the economy as well as the environment. The partnership involves Dalton carpet backing manufacturer Universal Textile Technologies and Yellowstone National Park.

“Universal Textile has committed to purchasing the recyclable, plastic bottles Yellowstone collects every year and converting them into a non-woven, fleece material that will be used to manufacture Universal Textile’s BioCel and EnviroCel high-performance backings for carpet and synthetic turf.

Universal Textile explains that, like a lot of recyclable materials collected in America, most plastics collected in Yellowstone had previously been shipped overseas. There, they were used to produce plastic products that were later shipped back and sold in the U.S.

This partnership can now change that course of action by keeping the plastic right here in America. This creates (and protects) jobs for the American workforce by reducing the amount of plastic bottles that go into landfills and it helps Yellowstone meet its recycling goals.

Most of of all, the partnership between Universal Textile Technologies and Yellowstone National Park is a great example of a model system that can help increase the demand for recycled content in American-made products. The way it’s explained on the Universal Textile website, eventually, Yellowstone will have the opportunity to purchase carpets that have the recycled content from the plastic bottles collected from the park, bringing the recycle story full circle.

 

…I have always been proud of how the carpet industry has taken the lead on recycling and innovation, always looking for new ways to protect the environment and help the economy.”

Thank you, Werner!