Four billion pounds of old carpet get dumped every year in the United States, and five pounds of oil goes into producing a single pound of nylon. New recycling methods could save all that oil by producing new nylon from old with little energy cost.
The numbers are staggering: according to Modular Carpet Recycling (MCR), a startup out of Delaware, each person consumes about 10 pounds of carpet each year (even with the construction slump).
Michael Kanellos writes that MCR "has come up with a precipitation process to efficiently recycle nylon fibers in old carpet, a material we're swimming in even with the stall in construction.
Four billion pounds of carpet enter waste streams in the U.S. each year, says CEO Ron Simonetti. Five pounds of oil go into a single pound of nylon, so annually the U.S. could curb oil exports by millions of barrels via recycling."
Read the full story: A New Source of Oil: Old Carpet
Colorado Ramps Up Rural Recycling Program
The state is creating a framework for building better access to recycling facilities and services for rural residents and businesses.
Rising Costs Could End Phoenix's Municipal Recycling Program
The city of Phoenix will either have to raise the rate for waste removal int he city or cut programs like recycling.
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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
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Los Angeles just elected an urban planner as its mayor
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Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority