California Mandates Recycled Carpet Usage for State Buildings

Starting Sept. 1, 2006, any carpet purchased by any California state government office must contain at least 10 percent recycled materials. The recycled portion can come either from old carpets or other materials that would normally be headed for landfills.

The California Gold Sustainable Carpet Standard was established by a task force charged with implementing portions of the state's Environmentally Preferable Purchasing law. In addition to recycling requirements, the new standard also calls for compliance with strict California guidelines for protecting the health of building occupants by reducing the amount of volatile organic compounds that escape into the indoor air from new carpeting.

"This new state initiative is an excellent beginning in a long-neglected area of recycling," said Ron Joseph, Director of the California Department of General Services. "California is leading the way with new standards to reduce the waste stream and ensure healthier working conditions."

Every year, the state purchases an estimated 12 million square feet of new carpeting.

"With this new initiative, we're hoping to leverage the state's huge purchasing power to encourage competition among manufacturers to develop even better recycling techniques," said Joseph. "We want to encourage industry to think sustainability and a healthy environment.. We're also hoping that local governments, the business community and private citizens will join the Governor's push for a Green California by adopting the same standards.

Detailed information on the new California Gold Sustainable Carpet Standard can be found at www.green.ca.gov/EPP/standards.