Carpet-Burns: from Waste Carpet to New Material

A new eco-material was born when Kelly Atkins (then a BA Applied Arts student) accidentally ironed her carpeted bedroom floor, melting it into a hard plastic surface. Not very upset but rather inspired, Kelly indulged into three years of material research which brought her success as she managed to develop a new technology that give polypropylene based carpets, that normally would go to landfill, a second life as a new material. Her company Carpet-Burns soon became the sole supplier of this new environmentally friendly material. It is called HTC (Heat Treated Carpet) and could be described as plywood style rigid board with the old carpet’s pattern design. HTC can be drilled, sawed or moulded and is waterproof, durable, low maintenance and has a high resistance to staining. This new 100% recycled material can be used indoors or outdoors. Carpet-Burns itself still manufactures some end products such as note books, coasters and magazine racks but due to the amount of carpets sent to landfill, Carpet-Burns have realised that they can make a more significant difference by focussing on producing the material. So currently Carpet-Burns are looking for collaborations with other designers who are keen on using HTC. ::Carpet-Burns Thanks Nathan for the tip!