Maine town to recycle 27k tons of carpet

WARREN, ME — A Maine town’s long-running efforts to find an environmental means of disposing of 27,000 tons of carpet originally meant for a local business is finally getting underway, according to an article from Recycling Today.

After contracting with Triumvirate Environmental, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has begun working with the company to remove the “carpet-like” fiber from the area so that it may be shipped to a recycling facility in Pennsylvania where it will be converted into composite lumber.

The carpet, which is considered a fire hazard, was meant for a “shot-and-sound containment berms” for a rifle range, but was never used.

DEP looked at many different proposals in the past year for ways to rid the town of the carpet without adding to the growing amount of carpet in landfills.

“This project shows that environmental stewardship and job creation can be done together,” Maine Governor Paul LePage said in the article. “By viewing the fiber as a resource, Triumvirate Environmental has created a value-added product to what was once considered waste.”

For the full, original article, please click here.