We've seen factories powered by food waste, landfill trash, and brewery waste. Now Georgia carpet manufacturer Shaw Industries is building a carpet-to-energy facility fueled by carpet materials from manufacturing operations and post-consumer collections.

The Reclaim-to-Energy facility, located at Shaw's factory in Calhoun, GA, will turn over 76 million pounds of reclaimed carpet scraps into steam and electricity, all with the help of a massive boiler. The process will provide over 90% of the factory's steam needs, as well as over half of its electricity needs (3.5 kWh per year, or the average yearly energy usage of 300 homes). 

Shaw Industries already has one Reclaim-to-Energy facility in Dalton, GA, but it's powered by a combination of carpet scraps and wood manufacturing byproducts. The new facility will bring Shaw even closer to a closed-loop production process.

Carpet fuel isn't the only option for old rugs. Universal Fiber uses post-consumer carpeting to create its ReFresh Fiber, a nylon fiber that can be turned into over 70 shades of carpet yarn.

[Via Calhoun Times]

Related: Universal Fiber Rescues Your Old Carpets from Landfills