Milwaukee carpet company takes steps to be more green

Milwaukee-based Kerns Carpet One recently became one of the first carpet retailers in the area to begin recycling discarded carpets and padding at a new recycling center called CLEAR, Carpet Landfill Elimination And Recycling Carpet located at 76th and Florist Ave., in Milwaukee.
CLEAR is the creation of Nick Fiore, president of Transport Surfaces, a company that currently transports floor covering products.  The company will begin shearing the fibers collected to be processed and turned into Nylon 6 and Nylon 66 pellets by mid-January, 2011.  The pellets will be sold to carpet manufacturers, automakers and other companies that make plastics to be used in making new products including carpet, carpet cushions, parking stops, picnic tables, park benches, automobile parts, plastic and wood composites, and erosion control products. CLEAR is expected to hire 12 to 15 new employees.
“Carpet doesn’t decompose, so it doesn’t do the environment any good having it take up space in landfills,” says Bill Kerns, president of Kerns Carpet One.  “We think preserving our environment is the right thing to do, and the feedback from our customers shows they appreciate it as well.”
During the month of November, Kerns is offering a $.30 per sq. ft. discount on selective products to customers who purchase new flooring and have Kerns certified installers remove and dispose of the old carpet and pad.  Carpeting is the second worst product currently being dumped in landfills next to tires and according to the Carpet & Rug Institute, about 1.8 million tons are sent to U.S. landfills each year. Carpet recycling is not currently mandated in Wisconsin.