Eric Nelson, vice president of strategic alliances at Interface Americas and the head of its ReEntry carpet recycling program, says this is because nylon is a polymer with a higher melt temperature than other plastics, such as polyester. Its resiliency also makes nylon carpets king when it comes to recycling old carpet into new carpet as well.

 

“[Nylon] makes a much tougher carpet fiber,” Nelson says, “so when you take it through a recycling process, you’re able to recover a lot more value — the heat and everything else that happens through recycling does not degrade the nylon like it will degrade a polyester.”

 

It also means age isn’t a problem when it comes to recycling carpet. “Nylon is a plastic and it doesn’t wear out,” Sikorski says. “We say it uglies out before it wears out, and we’d love to have it back — whether it’s 30 years old or not.”