Carpet recycling

The law sets the operating rules for the successor carpet producer-responsibility program, intended to collect, reuse, and recycle postconsumer carpet. It also increases transparency around program grants and incentives.

What the law does ​

• Requires the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery to adopt implementing regulations by January 1, 2029.
• Requires carpet producers to join an approved producer responsibility organization before selling, importing, or distributing covered carpet in California.
• Creates 14-member voting governing boards for both the producer-responsibility and carpet-stewardship programs, with designated industry, environmental, retailer, recycler, collector, and labor representation.
• Requires plans to offer free postconsumer-carpet drop-off sites statewide, with minimum operating hours, Saturday availability, geographic coverage, and payments to collection sites.
• Requires installers removing carpet to take it to a collection site by January 1, 2029, unless it is returned to the producer under auditable tracking.
• Requires producers to disclose product components exceeding 1% by weight and intentionally added hazardous candidate chemicals, subject to trade-secret protections.
• Requires carpet markings to identify the producer, manufacture date, and face-fiber and backing materials.
• Requires carpet to contain 5% postconsumer recycled carpet content by 2028.
• Requires annual allocation of $2 million, adjusted for inflation subject to limits, for specified labor-organization apprenticeship programs training carpet installers.
• Moves annual reporting deadlines to September 1 and requires detailed public reporting on grants, subsidies, and incentive payments.
• Authorizes administrative penalties up to $10,000 per day, or $25,000 per day for knowing or intentional violations.

Who it affects ​

• Carpet manufacturers, brand owners, importers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, and producers selling carpet in California.
• The producer responsibility organization, carpet stewardship organization, collection sites, recyclers, processors, and solid waste facilities.
• Carpet installers, installation contractors, labor apprenticeship programs, consumers, and commercial building owners.

Context ​

The law governs the transition and operation of California's successor producer-responsibility program for carpet recycling.

Breakdown ​

Carpet Stewardship Program Updates ​

AB 904 updates enforcement, governance, and reporting rules for California’s carpet stewardship program. It clarifies that the recycling department may impose administrative penalties, changes when the higher daily penalty applies, requires a new 14-member voting governing board, and adds reporting details for recycling grants and subsidies.

Key takeaways

• The Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery may impose administrative penalties of up to $10,000 per day for program violations and up to $25,000 per day for intentional or knowing violations.
• The bill removes negligence as a basis for the higher $25,000-per-day penalty.
• A carpet stewardship organization must create a governing board with 14 voting members as specified by the bill.
• The bill replaces the prior requirement for certain nonvoting board representation, including a carpet retailer, with the new governing-board requirement.
• Annual reports must include specified information about grants and subsidies awarded to encourage carpet recycling.

Changes to Carpet Recycling Program ​

This part revises California’s carpet producer responsibility program, including its governance, collection sites, reporting, labeling, training funds, and enforcement rules. It aligns the definition of carpet with the separate carpet stewardship program, broadens where used carpet can be collected, and changes several plan and regulatory deadlines. It also removes the rule that program costs must be borne by producers while retaining the assessment that funds the program.

Key takeaways

• The bill removes the carpet stewardship organization from the definition of a producer responsibility organization and uses the carpet definition from the product stewardship for carpet program.
• It eliminates the requirement that producers bear the program’s costs, while existing assessments on covered products continue to fund the program.
• Removed carpet does not have to be transported to a collection site when specified conditions are met, including return of the carpet to its producer.
• The bill expands eligible collection sites to include certain carpet recycling centers, municipal facilities, and retailers.
• The program will have a specified 14-member voting governing board, annual reports will be due by September 1, and producers must disclose product components exceeding 1% by weight plus hazardous chemical components.
• Producer responsibility plans must require clearer product markings, free dropoff of postconsumer carpet at collection sites with required operating schedules, and $2 million annually for qualifying labor-organization apprenticeship programs.
• The department no longer must use sales data to set carpet recycling performance standards, may disqualify the organization only for knowing or intentional repeated violations, and must adopt implementing regulations by January 1, 2029.