As part of a joint effort with Carpet American Recovery Effort (CARE), Verdex Technologies has developed technology that can take recycled PET carpet (and bottles) and turn them into an array of nonwoven products, such as apparel, filtration and acoustical products. This enables the nonwovens industry and associated businesses to play a vital role in solving the growing problem of landfilling carpet and plastic litter in oceans. A vast majority of carpet is landfilled each year, with only around 10% reused or recycled. Carpets represent 2% by weight of American landfill waste, totaling almost 4 billion pounds per year.
Verdex’s patented spinning nozzle technology converts Post Consumer Carpet (PCC) material directly into nano- and micro-fibers, which are blended with larger fibers to form the products. The technology is capable of spinning recycled, cleaned PET carpet containing polypropylene and calcium carbonate components. It is a simple and safe process for spinning nanofibers, using no solvents and low-pressure air, allowing for a wide variety of functional enhancements in products containing nanofibers. The Verdex process can spin nanofibers using polymers, including PCL, PLA, PP, PET, PBT, Nylon 66 and others if melt viscosity is low.
