Throwing Away Old Carpet

Because carpet is usually disposed of in large amounts you can t just leave it at the curb.

Throwing away old carpet.

And because carpet is made from multiple components with different chemical makeups it s tough to recycle properly. Here are four great ways to keep your old rug out of the dump give it new uses around the house and even bring you some extra cash. Cut carpet into easy to handle. Another option is to sell or donate the old carpet if it s in good usable condition.

Donating or selling carpet. Typical carpeting contains all sorts of nasty chemicals like polyvinylchloride pvc and polypropylene which we don t want sitting in landfills for years and possibly contaminating any groundwater. And because most old carpet is thrown away in large quantities many trash collectors will not accept it. Before you start ripping up the carpet clear all furniture from the room.

The latter will be a lot cheaper. Should you just throw it in the landfill like everyone used to do. If you don t have a lot of carpet like the previous suggestion cut it up into small pieces and just mix the carpet padding and tack strips in with your normal trash. Carpets are full of complex fibers that make them impossible to break down in landfills.

Nope you should recycle it. Tack strips are metal nails that line the perimeter of your walls to hold the carpet. Although you can technically throw old carpet away with the rest of your trash doing so can prove to be a bit complicated. Yes nearly all types of carpet can be recycled.

How to dispose of old carpeting recycling carpet. According to the carpet america recovery effort nearly 5 billion pounds of used carpet end up in landfills every year this is not good. How to remove old carpet 1. If you are unable to haul the carpet off to the dump yourself do a search on the internet or in the yellow pages for waste or trash removal.

Detach carpet from tack strips. Carpet is made from a combination of fibers plastics and chemicals that make it hard to break down in landfills. Before dumping your old carpet or rug on the curb try cleaning it up to see if it can be reused. The carpet america recovery effort or care is a non profit organization focusing on keeping.