Carpet made from recycled plastic is not only an eco-friendly alternative to traditional carpeting, it is GREAT for pet owners! It is made from post-consumer plastic, such as plastic bottles, which are collected and then processed into fibers that can be woven into carpeting.
Recycling plastic bottles to create carpeting helps to reduce the amount of plastic waste that ends up in landfills or the ocean. It also conserves natural resources, such as oil, which is used to produce traditional carpet fibers.
Carpet made from recycled plastic can be just as durable and attractive as traditional carpeting. It is available in a wide range of styles, colors, and textures, and can be used in both residential and commercial settings.
If you are interested in purchasing carpet made from recycled plastic, be sure to look for products that are certified by reputable organizations, such as the Carpet and Rug Institute’s Green Label Plus program, which verifies that the carpet meets strict indoor air quality standards.
One of the earliest recycling innovations is carpeting made from recycled plastic bottles. Growth has been substantial and today a company like Mohawk Flooring is processing over 8 million bottles each day provided by recycling facilities all over the U.S.
Arriving in bales at the manufacturing plant, the bottles are separated into clear and color batches. Without this kind of separation all the resulting carpets would be colored green.
Slicing and dicing the bottles is the next step. This process is so mechanically thoroughgoing that the result is a blend of powdered flakes. During a washing process any bottle caps in the batch will rise to the top. These caps are later used to create the carpet cores. The finished carpets will be coiled around these cores.
The clean flakes are now heated to a temperature of 500 degrees and melted into a viscous liquid. Subsequently, this liquid is passed through an array of spinnerets, each with 1200 holes, that essentially turns the PET bottle flakes into very thin strands.
Next, these thin stranded fibers begin a process of cooling and lengthening and are finally entwined into a carpeting quality material. The product is now baled and shipped to another manufacturing plant that specializes in turning this material into yarn.
Carpeting made from recycled plastic bottles is almost complete when the plastic has become yarn. Using the most sophisticated machinery, the carpets are woven at a rate of 18 stitches per second. Lastly, after selecting a dye for a chosen coloring, the carpet is ready for the showroom. 
Carpets made from recycled plastic are virtually indistinguishable from carpets made from other materials. In fact, plastic carpeting fibers often are usually less expensive and are more stain-resistant and color-fast than materials like wool.
There’s more good news. Your old carpeting made from recycled plastic bottles can also be recycled. Sites like The Carpet America Recovery Effort in California offer solutions for the recycling and reuse of post-consumer carpeting.
Last we heard, it also comes with a 10 year stain warranty, but check with your local dealer/installer for complete details.