California reached a 38.5 percent carpet recycling rate in 2024 through its extended producer responsibility program. New York will become the second state with such a mandate when its law takes effect in July 2026. The rest of the country continues to send most discarded carpet to landfills.
The United States produces about 3.4 million tons of post-consumer carpet annually. The national recycling rate stands at 9.2 percent according to the last Environmental Protection Agency report.
California's Carpet Stewardship Program collected 82.7 million pounds of carpet in 2024. Of that amount, 90.5 percent was recycled. The program exceeded its 34 percent goal for the year.
New York signed its extended producer responsibility law in December 2024. The measure requires 10 percent post-consumer recycled content in carpet sold in the state and bans PFAS-containing carpet starting December 31, 2026. Producer plans are due by December 31, 2025.
Forty-eight states still handle carpet as ordinary household waste. Major manufacturers stopped using PFAS in domestic production in 2019.
