The overall goal of the research was to develop the next generation, generic construction of broadloom carpet that will compete on both a performance and cost basis with the current construction while avoiding the major recycling disadvantages of the latter. The new construction was designed to maintain nearly all of the current carpet formation processes to minimize capital investment in converting existing manufacturing lines. A major industry constriction was that the new construction must at least meet the current construction's physical performance on the floor and overall cost characteristics.