KB Home to Use Environmentally Friendly Recyclable Carpet in All New Homes

KB Home, one of America’s largest homebuilders, announced that it has teamed up with Shaw to offer only environmentally friendly recyclable carpet in all its new homes. These carpets are made of Nylon 6, the only material capable of being continuously recycled into dyeable carpet fiber. Every home that uses recycled carpet fiber saves approximately 108 cubic feet of landfill space and also prevents emissions equivalent to 1,700 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2)*.

This decision furthers KB Home’s commitment to building more sustainable, environmentally friendly homes. While KB Home already offers Shaw low-VOC carpet that meets the Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) Green Label Plus standards, all carpet offered in homes that begin construction after June 30, 2009 will also be recyclable.

KB Home homebuyers can now choose between Shaw’s Anso® nylon carpets and other Nylon 6 carpets, both of which are recyclable using a cradle-to-cradle manufacturing process that converts old carpet into a raw material that can be used to make new carpet. This practice mimics the renewal process in which natural products can be returned to the earth for decomposition. Shaw’s Anso nylon products also contain post-consumer carpet content derived from its recycling operation. Shaw currently recycles 120 million pounds of Nylon 6 carpet each year and was recently recognized by the EPA and the (CARE) with the EPA/CARE Innovations in Carpet Recycling Award for the company’s Evergreen Nylon Recycling facility and leadership in post-consumer carpet recycling.

Shaw’s Evergreen facility is part of a system of efficient post-consumer carpet collection, recycling, and value recovery on a large scale. Shaw has reclaimed and recycled more than 225 million pounds of post-consumer carpet since Evergreen’s opening in 2007. If a homeowner decides to install new flooring, they should ask their flooring installer to recycle their old carpet or contact Shaw at 1-800-434-9887 to locate the nearest recycling facility.