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Saving the planet, one carpet at a time
In the past 27 months Dulles-based Potomac Floor Covering, with the help of Vornado/Charles E. Smith Commercial Realty, has saved more than 228,000 pounds of commercial carpet from being disposed of in local area landfills.
Potomac Floor became a zero-to-landfill carpet contractor in 2007 – reusing materials instead of dropping off waste at the landfill. But the partnership with Vornado/CE Smith began in 2005 with a 60,000-square-foot office project for FEMA, before reclamation became an option for Potomac customers.
“We started offering reclamation as an alternative to the landfill in January 2006 in order to give customers the opportunity to do the right thing for the environment,” said Gerry Swift, executive vice president of Potomac Floor Covering. “Unfortunately, due to the added cost of reclamation, we had to charge our customers. Needless to say, we didn’t have any takers.”
A year later, Potomac contracted with RM Brokerage in Alexandria (a member of the Starnet Worldwide Commercial Flooring Partnership service provider network), and lowered the costs involved with reclamation. By mid-2007 Potomac Floor declared themselves “zero landfill.”
“We continue to absorb the added cost,” Swift said. “But we know it’s the responsible thing to do.”
To date, the environmental impact of its efforts equates to roughly 899 cubic yards of landfill saved, 555,121 gallons of water saved and an average equivalent of 1,820,070,000 BTU’s of energy saved – enough to run 10 average homes for a whole year, according to the company.
Collected in transfer trailers, the carpet is sent to the local CARE (Carpet America Recovery Effort) certified recycler, RM Brokerage in Alexandria. The majority of the material is made into industrial products including composite lumber (decking and sheets), tile backing, roofing shingles, railroad ties, automotive parts, carpet padding and landscape stones. Anything that is not recyclable is clean-burned for energy.
From January 2007 through March of this year, it also recycled 4,730 pounds of paper and cardboard.
To learn more about Potomac Floor Covering, call 703-787-7890 or visit www.potomacfloorcovering.com.
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