In the EU, more than 1.5 million tonnes of carpets end up in landfill or incineration, and only 1-3% of old carpets are recycled. This is because carpets are made of multiple layers of various materials, making them extremely expensive and technically difficult to recycle.
Cefic member company DSM decided to change this: in partnership with carpet designing firm Niaga (“again” in reverse), it developed a carpet that can be easily recycled into pure material streams that can be re-used again and again to make a brand-new carpet of the same quality.
The unique carpet was presented to Cefic’s Director General Marco Mensink by Dimitri de Vreeze, a member of the Managing Board of DSM ahead of Cefic’s Sustainability Forum meeting.
Enabling a circular economy is one of the key priorities for the EU chemical industry in the next decades. We make a circular economy possible by developing processes and technologies for more efficient recycling or by helping manufacturers design easily recyclable products from the start.
Watch this video to find out more about DSM’s 100% recyclable carpet or visit ChemistryCan to learn about other projects the industry is working on.