For the last 12 years, Carpet One has recycled about 1.7 million pounds of carpet padding.
It gets collected in Billings and then trucked to a recycling company.
The decision came about partly for business reasons and partly for environmental reasons.
"We have sent 42 semi-loads," said Randy Mostad, one of the owners of Carpet One Floor & Home of Billings. "Each semi loads 40,000 pounds. So a total of somewhere just under 1.7 million pounds of urethane cushion that have gone to recycling."
Mostad says it's more than about Earth Day.
He's concerned about the environment and talked about how long the old padding takes to decompose.
"It's urethane," Mostad said. "You know, it's a petroleum byproduct. I couldn't tell you how long. It's not going to be in our lifetime."
He says recycling has decreased what the company pays to have old padding hauled to the landfill.
"Just in our dumpster fees, we save 25%, which is pretty significant," Mostad said.
Mostad said a lot of the material gets made into sound-deadening products and park bench planks.
And once empty, the semis come back with new carpet padding, some made from unused scraps.
"You know it's very heartwarming," he said. "It's knowing that what we're doing is actually making a difference. And thinking it through that 1.7 million pounds, 42 semi-loads that those aren't out there right now. That's a good feeling."
