Carpet Recycling UK wants more partners

Carpet Recycling UK (CRUK) works with 80% of the United Kingdom's carpet and textile flooring manufacturers, and it is seeking more partnerships to reduce textile flooring waste.

Carpets in North Wales and Chester are regularly recycled to prevent them from going to landfills. Condor Carpets and Penthouse Carpets are two of the major manufacturers whose waste textiles are recycled in the region by CRUK.

More industry support for CRUK will, according to its manager Adnan Zeb-Khan, add weight to the organisation’s discussions with the government on waste management policies.

Carpet manufacturers are developing new carpets that include recycled materials and contain mostly textiles that can be recycled. A partnership with CRUK saves carpet manufacturers thousands of pounds a year on disposal costs. CRUK also claims that, when tendering for commercial work, carpet suppliers and fitters can be looked on favourably if they use CRUK to dispose of waste textile flooring.

In a statement, Adnan Zeb-Khan said:

“Our ultimate aim is to move carpet and textile flooring up the waste hierarchy and create circularity to maximise the use of these resources.”

CRUK hopes that low-cost carpets can be made from recycled carpet waste for use in social housing and affordable property developments.

In 2020, 70% of waste carpets were diverted by CRUK from dumping in landfills. More up-to-date figures are due to be publicised at the CRUK annual conference in June this year. If more carpet manufacturers join CRUK, the percentage of carpets recycled could be nearer to 100%.