A tufted carpet developed by Owens Corning Fiberglas Inc can be readily recycled according to the company as it has only glass & polyamide as its major components. US Patent 7 160 599 claims that its carpet has reduced skewing, bowing & wrinkling during manufacture & installation, & does not creep in use. At the same time, it meets the requirements of the US EPA standards relating to the content of recyclable materials. The invention combines the primary & secondary backings into a single layer. This layer is a consolidation of a glass fiber fabric, a glass veil or a glass mat with an extruded film that is reinforced with glass fiber. An additional glass fiber fabric can be included if greater dimensional stability is needed. The tufts are held in place with adhesives. The extruded film is polyamide, which can come from recycled carpet waste. The EPA now requires that carpet backings contain at least 7% of recyclable materials. Traditional polypropylene (PP) carpet backings do not currently meet this target, says Owens Corning Fiberglas.
