Armstrong Names Ceiling Recycler of the Year

Armstrong World Industries has named CarpetCycle LLC of Newark, N.J., as its 2012 Ceiling Recycler of the Year. During 2012, the recycling contractor recycled more than 1.6 million square feet of ceiling tiles instead of sending them to a landfill.

The Armstrong award recognizes companies and organizations that make significant environmental contributions through their recycling initiatives. This is the second year in a row that the award has been presented to CarpetCycle. CarpetCycle began recycling ceilings in 2005 as part of the Armstrong Ceiling Recycling Program. The program enables building owners to ship ceilings from demolition and renovation projects to the nearest Armstrong ceiling plant as an alternative to landfill disposal. The discarded ceiling tiles are then used to manufacture new ceilings through a closed-loop process. Armstrong designates new tiles made with high levels of recycled ceilings as Ceiling-2-Ceiling items.

Since it began the program in 1999, Armstrong has recycled more than 123 million square feet of discarded ceiling tiles. This represents more than 61,500 tons of construction waste that has been diverted from landfills.

Founded in 1999, CarpetCycle is involved in the removal; collection; tear-out; and recycling of carpet, carpet padding, ceiling tiles, and other construction waste from commercial buildings undergoing renovation in northern New Jersey and New York City. Sean Ragiel, president of CarpetCycle, notes that his firm is an Armstrong Certified Construction and Demolition (C&D) Processor, which means it can collect used ceilings directly from job sites for recycling. CarpetCycle can also receive ceilings in bulk deliveries
at its Newark facility from pre-qualified renovation projects.

“We have 50,000 square feet of warehouse space at our facility in Newark,” Ragiel says. “We are able to collect ceiling tiles from any size project, and bale and stockpile them until we have a full truckload that we can ship back to Armstrong. Recycling old ceilings can actually save the building owner money on container costs and landfill fees. It’s simple, it’s green and it’s cost effective.”