California governor signs carpet recycling bill

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill (AB) 1158 into law Oct. 14. According to a previous news release on www.CDRecycler.com, the state legislature passed the bill in mid-September 2017.

The bill requires carpet manufacturers to submit a carpet stewardship plan that meets specified requirements from the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle). A coalition of local governments, environmental, public health, carpet industry and union organizations supported the legislation.

The legislation says manufacturers must achieve a 24 percent carpet recycling rate for postconsumer carpet by Jan. 1, 2020. Manufacturers can partner with carpet stewardship organizations to create their plans and achieve compliance with the new law. The bill says plans must include quantifiable 5-year goals and annual goals that will be reviewed by CalRecycle starting Jan. 1, 2020 and every three years after.

The bill also creates an advisory committee, appointed by the CalRecycle director, the speaker of the Assembly and the Senate Committee on Rules, that would provide comments and recommendations on carpet stewardship plans and requires manufacturers to incorporate the committee’s recommendations and comments into any updated plans.