RMDZ Business Success Story

Los Angeles Fiber Co.

LA Fiber's workers sorting various used carpets into different categories.

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LA Fiber opened as a textile recycling business in 1987 and operated for seven years in a thriving textile industry. In 1994 the NAFTA agreement took effect and virtually overnight the Los Angeles garment industry disappeared. This was disastrous to LA Fiber, which lost a reliable and abundant supply of waste material. LA Fiber needed to look for other sources of recyclables--they found carpet.

Today LA Fiber recycles carpet instead of garment waste. It is estimated that there is 700 million pounds of postconsumer carpet going into California landfills per year today and that'll only increase in the future. LA Fiber uses this scrap carpet material to make carpet padding. Workers add value by sorting the different types of carpet into categories; they then shred the material and bail the different fiber types for processing into padding at another plant also owned by LA Fiber.

New carpet padding made from recycled carpets.

It took nearly a decade to get this operation up and running and critical assistance from the RMDZ Program to make LA Fiber the largest recycler of post-consumer carpet in the world. LA Fiber has received 3 loans: a 1 million dollar loan, a $600,000 loan, and $500,000 dollar loan for a total of more than 2 million dollars. They were also provided with several lists of potential customers and received help in redesigning their website to enhance visibility.

"The RMDZ program is more than just a loan," President of LA Fiber Ron Greitzer stated. With 64 employees, LA Fiber is set to divert 100 million pounds of waste from California landfills this year. Dassi Pintar, RMDZ Zone Administrator, said, "I recommend the RMDZ program to businesses out there who have never worked with us before because our entire purpose is to provide assistance to them. Our success is their success and ultimately the success of the State of California."

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Last updated: October 24, 2007