Aquafil Group acquires Planet Recycling Inc.

Aquafil Group, Cartersville, Georgia, announced on Nov. 20 that it will acquire Phoenix-based Planet Recycling Inc. The recycler will join the Aquafil Group in mid-December.

Planet Recycling Inc. has specialized in recycling residential and commercial carpet waste and carpet pad materials for more than 35 years. Planet Recycling diverts over 10,000 tons of post-consumer carpet and carpet pads from area landfills each year. According to Aquafil, Planet Recycling’s collection facilities will enhance the availability of used carpet material for the Aquafil carpet recycling facility in Phoenix and will also create a stable quantity of nylon waste to be supplied to a Slovenia-based regeneration plant where carpet waste and other materials such as fishing nets and other types of nylon waste are regenerated to make Econyl yarns and polymers.

Each year in the U.S., 4 billion pounds of carpet is discarded in landfills and only 5 percent of carpet waste is recycled. Aquafil Group says it is committed to help reduce this waste by implementing a closed-loop supply chain where carpets are recycled instead of ending up in landfills. 

Aquafil has two carpet recycling facilities—one in Phoenix and one in Woodland, California—that can each process up to 36 million pounds of carpet annually.