Armstrong’s ceilings recycling program, the nation’s first and longest-running ceilings recycling program, is celebrating 25 years of providing a responsible end-of-life solution for ceilings and reducing construction waste on commercial renovation projects.

Over the last quarter of a century, the ceilings recycling program, which was launched in 1999, has diverted more than 217 million square feet of discarded ceiling panels away from landfills, reclaiming enough material to fill Central Park more than six times over.

By offering a responsible end-of-life solution for many ceiling products, Armstrong World Industries has eliminated waste, lessened its impact on the environment and reduced the environmental footprint of the ceilings industry overall.

As a leader in the building products industry, Armstrong has a significant opportunity — and responsibility — to address the global challenges of climate change and to work to meet 2030 goals. The ceilings recycling program is one of many ways to contribute to circular solutions and reduce carbon emissions.

Meeting Waste Diversion Goals

Through its ceilings recycling program, Armstrong supports commercial building owners and contractors in reducing construction waste on renovation projects. In addition to helping projects meet waste diversion goals, the program enables savings on container costs and landfill fees. Visit the Diversion Savings Calculator to learn more.

The ceilings recycling program team transports discarded ceiling panels from commercial renovation projects to nearby Armstrong facilities, where they are upcycled into new ceiling panels in a closed-loop manufacturing process.

Supporting Circularity

Using the old panels as a recycling stream for new ceilings enables Armstrong to lower the embodied carbon of new ceilings and provide its customers with a circular solution to their waste management goals.

“Armstrong has always been an innovative company, a commitment demonstrated by our starting the industry’s first ceilings recycling program 25 years ago,” said Kelsey Herring, director of sustainability at Armstrong. “As impacts of climate change intensify and the global waste problem worsens, we are proud of the strength and growth of the program, as it helps companies fulfill a critical responsibility to adopt more sustainable systems of production, reuse and recycling. The ceilings recycling program is the centerpiece of our circular economy effort at Armstrong and supports the circularity goals of our customers as well.”

Sustainability and Customer Service

For projects in pursuit of LEED v4, the program is approved and contributes to credits for reducing construction waste. In addition, replacing the old panels with ceilings made with higher levels of recycled content can contribute to LEED v4 Materials and Resources credits and help create healthier, more sustainable spaces.

The Armstrong ceilings recycling program circularity coordinator offers customer support throughout the process, from registration to transportation to procuring new high-recycled-content ceiling solutions. For more information and to get started registering a renovation project for recycling, visit the ceilings recycling program’s website.