Around 4 billion pounds of carpet are dumped into landfills every year. 9 billion pounds of new carpet are sold each year. Of all floor covering, carpet accounts for 72% of the market, with 39% of that carpet existing in commercial applications. (via coloryourcarpet.com) Designers are at a critical point in the construction trade to influence the type of carpet used in a project and therefore, its subsequent environmental impact. There are many programs in existence that recycle or refurbish old carpet, diverting millions of pounds of waste from landfills each year. Interface, not only makes a great carpet, but they also think about the end of life for their carpets.

Blast from the Past. Designed by Interface.

Interface carpets already have 35% post-consumer recycled content and 35% pre-consumer recycled content. Glue-free TacTiles hold the carpet tiles together upon installation, which both eliminate the need for gas emitting glue as well as makes recycling easier. Recycling programs for return and reuse of carpet are more than an afterthought for Interface, their “closed loop” program has been well integrated into the manufacturing process for years.

Cool Carpet is an interesting concept, whereby although Interface hasn’t achieved a zero impact product at present, they have tallied up the impact of the lifecycle of carpet to understand the net emissions on the environment. Every pound of GHG emissions is offset with pounds of cool carbon offsets, which are investments in renewable energy and other projects that prevent GHG emissions. This seems to be a case of purchasing good deeds to cancel out bad deeds. It’s a dangerous line where money pays for the hardest part of the process, but as a short term solution (Interface plans to be zero emissions by 2020) it is a conscientious nod in the right direction. Check out their website for more details on the programs. There are a lot of noble companies on the receiving end of Cool Carpet, which comes standard on all Interface FLOR products sold in the US.