"Going Green" gains ground: carpet industry efforts should be lauded; government promotes use of recycled content.

On September 1, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD)--the single largest governmental buyer of goods and services--issued a new "green procurement" policy and, in a not un-related development, the Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) was highlighted during a National Recycling Coalition conference in San Francisco this summer. No, it is not your imagination: government and industry entities definitely do have "green" on the brain these days. With an exploding world population creating a sustained global demand for consumer products and a matching industrialization of the world's economies to meet that demand, it is no surprise we are seeing a growing awareness among U.S. government and industry interests of "green" initiatives that promote sustainable development and product stewardship.

Considering the expanding role that the nonwovens industry is playing in the world economy and the growing breadth of products that incorporate nonwoven fabrics, it makes sense for us to review some of these recent "green" initiatives to keep an eye towards the future so our industry can continue to be involved in opportunities to promote good environmental stewardship.

Product Stewardship And Carpet

Sustainable development--the concept that economic growth can meet the needs of the present without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs--is closely intertwined with notions of "product stewardship." Product stewardship is predicated on an approach to environmental protection whereby manufacturers, retailers and end users are viewed as a chain, and each link of that chain is expected to take responsibility for reducing the environmental impacts of products. The over-riding goal is to encourage environmentally friendly design and recycling of products and reduce the amount of solid waste generated through disposal.

Product stewardship principles have been embraced by much of the industrialized world, with a number of European and Asian countries mandating producer recovery and recycling of certain products at the end of their useful lives. In many cases, these laws require manufacturers to assume sole responsibility for collecting and recycling products and to foot the bill for all of the related costs.

The U.S., on the other hand, has historically taken a less restrictive approach toward product stewardship, choosing to forego national mandates in favor of allowing state and local governments to bear the responsibility for fostering product stewardship plans. Also, in many cases, the U.S. tends to favor "carrots" instead of "sticks" when it comes to these issues. In our free market system, in other words, incentives are typically favored over punishments in governmental efforts to bring each link in a U.S. stewardship chain into a stewardship program.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), for instance, facilitates "partnerships" between itself and many industries, which are designed to encourage stewardship for products including batteries, packaging, vehicles and electronics. Carpet is also among the products targeted for industry-government stewardship programs. While carpet waste does not pose a toxicity hazard, its general bulk makes for difficult and expensive end-life management, leading to general concerns about landfill disposal capacity. Indeed, in 2002 the carpet industry estimated that 95% of the almost 5 billion pounds of carpet waste ended up in landfills.

In an effort to reduce this waste stream, carpet and fiber manufacturers, through the Carpet and Rug Institute, joined with various state governments, the federal EPA and several non-government organizations in January 2002 to sign the National Carpet Recycling Agreement. This voluntary agreement established a 10-year schedule for diverting 40% of end-of-life carpet from landfill disposal by 2012. This ambitious goal is to be met through increased recycling rates coupled with reuse of post-consumer carpet and stepped-up waste-to-energy efforts. The agreement also created the Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE), a third-party organization sponsored and administered solely by industry overseeing the agreement's progress and developing opportunities for recovered carpet.

According to CARE's executive director Bob Peoples, a great deal of disposed carpet is now being recycled into carpet padding, and composite materials that include post-use carpet are being used in decking material and stepping stones. Alternative uses for spent carpets are also being studied and significant progress has been made in achieving the Agreement's laudable goals. Since CARE was launched in 2002, approximately 175 million pounds of old carpet have been recovered. But, Mr. Peoples also points out that a huge effort is needed to market the products derived from recycled carpet. One way, he suggested, would be to seek increased procurement of the products by federal, state and local agencies.

This sounds like a wise strategy given that Section 6002 of the 1976 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) requires EPA to develop a list of products that can be made from recycled materials and further requires that federal agencies consult that list prior to purchasing various goods they need. Federal procurement officers are under RCRA pressure to purchase items from that category that contain recycled content. EPA-designated products include carpet and carpet padding as well as building insulation, roofing materials, floor tiles and office furniture.

There are other green procurement requirements within federal agencies too. The Defense Department's recently announced "green procurement policy" (GPP), for instance, seeks to achieve five key objectives: 1) educate appropriate DOD employees about the requirements and opportunities for federal green procurement; 2) increase purchases of green products and services; 3) reduce the amount of solid waste generated; 4) reduce consumption of energy and natural resources and 5) expand markets for green products and services.

DOD's strategy has been touted by many as the most holistic approach of any federal agency. "We have been recommending that agencies take [an approach] that addresses all components of federal green purchasing," said Bush Administration's acting federal environmental executive Edwin Pinero. "DOD is the first to fully embrace this approach. As the new model for the federal government, it holds great potential for sustainable environmental stewardship in DOD and other federal agencies."

A Good Act To Follow

Considering that nonwovens are incorporated into products that appear on EPA's list and fall under DOD's green procurement policy, industry members seeking to do business with the U.S. government should seriously investigate ways of incorporating recycled content into their products whenever possible.

In addition, the nonwovens industry should always keep an eye out for opportunities that will allow us to do what the Carpet and Rug Institute has done with its National Carpet Recycling Program. After all, environmental stewardship is a concept that makes good practical sense but can now also be relied upon to increase revenue streams.

Commercial Laundry Fined By OSHA 

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced September 10 that it has levied a fine of $140,850 against Angelica Textile Service's commercial laundry service in Batavia, NY, for allegedly failing to protect workers against exposure to blood borne pathogens in soiled laundry, discarded sharp objects, and contaminated working services. OSHA only issues a serious citation when death or physical harm to an employee can result from the hazard and, all told, the Angelica facility was cited for 20 willful and serious violations of workplace health standards.

Among the violations cited, OSHA's inspection found that Angelica: 1) failed to properly disinfect surfaces that were contaminated with blood or other potentially infectious materials; 2) neglected to supply protective aprons and to ensure that contaminated aprons were properly cleaned; and 3) failed to regularly inspect and decontaminate laundry hampers used to transport contaminated laundry.

Angelica will have 15 business days from receipt of citations and fines to request an informal conference with OSHA or to contest them before an independent commission.

Peter Mayberry

INDA Director of Governmental Affairs

Jessica Franken

INDA Government Affairs Associate

Peter Mayberry's column appears monthly in NONWOVENS INDUSTRY.