A process for separation and recovery of waste carpet components, wherein waste carpets are predominantly composed of a face fiber material, a backing material and an adhesive coating which includes latex and filler. Virtually all of the filler, i.e. calcium carbonate, is removed prior to fine grinding and passing the mixture to a high speed centrifuge for separation of the face fiber material from the backing material. A high friction washer is disclosed which separates the face giver material, the backing material and the adhesive coating. The fine grinding of the material to be recycled may be done only once before passing the mixture to the centrifuge by which the loss of the fiber material is highly reduced before its separation into face fiber and backing material and also the life time of the fine grinder and the centrifuge can be prolonged.