Lately, there’s been a lot of momentum around devising sustainable alternatives for things that we tend to take for granted. A Swedish grocery chain is swapping out plastic fruit labels for laser marks; a brewery switched out its plastic six-pack rings for edible versions to protect ocean wildlife.
But until now, no one has made a dent in the problem of household carpeting. Second only to diapers when it comes to taking up landfill space, around 3.5 billion pounds of carpet are tossed each year in the U.S. Because carpets are made up of such a complex array of chemicals, like latex and PVC, they’re next to impossible to recycle.