Recycled carpet pads make plush business

Orlando Cortez used two decades worth of experience in the carpet installing industry to start his own unique business venture.

Cortez opened Cortez Recycling Center in Reno eight months ago, a business that collects used carpet pads from area stores and installers and prepares them to be recycled into new pads.

According to Cortez, there is no other business like it in northern Nevada.

The proof is in the padding: the recycling center posted sales of $15,000 in its first month of operation.

A native of Columbia, Cortez arrived in the United States 22 years ago and first settled in Los Angeles.

He worked several different jobs there until he started working with an old friend who had a carpet installation business.

Later, he moved to Reno and worked with Carpet Installers of America.

But Cortez had visions of starting his own recycling business as soon as he moved to northern Nevada.

"When I first came to Reno, it was my dream to start a company like this," Cortez said.

Cortez recycles the carpet pads by first removing unwanted remnants such as nails, dust, tack strips and stains.

The pads are then placed in a baler where they are compacted and packaged for shipping.

Cortez does not have the capabilities to make new pads so he sends the cleaned-up material, via rented trucks, to carpet manufacturers who recycle it for a fee.

An average load costs $2,600 to ship, said Cortez, but clients have requested up to 40,000 pounds, requiring three trucks for delivery.

Currently, he does business with four companies in California and Oregon and is working on a contract with a fifth company.

"I would like to work with more and more clients, but I just don't have the capacity right now," Cortez said.

Cortez has a small staff that includes his wife Floralba and his 15-year-old son, who works on the weekends.

Cortez still works as a carpet installer, which he does in the mornings.

Meanwhile, he devotes his afternoons and weekends to his business operations.

Eventually, Cortez wants to buy his own trucks.

He is currently working on obtaining his Class A commercial driver's license so that he can transport the recycled pads himself.

Among his loftier goals, he said, is to lease a larger warehouse or buy some land and build his own warehouse.

And he wants to expand his services to include recycling carpets, not just carpet pads.