The success of the Mattress Recycling Council’s (MRC) Bye Bye Mattress program in Connecticut is stacking up. After six years of steady growth, the country’s first statewide mattress recycling program has now recycled more than 1 million mattresses and box springs, resulting in the diversion of more than 18,000 tons of steel, foam, fibers and wood from landfill and incineration.
MRC’s 2020-2021 Annual Report submitted recently to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection highlights the latest efforts taken to continually strengthen the program and achieve performance goals. MRC again surpassed the established benchmarks for solid waste facility participation, units collected from mattress retailers, and participation from small waste haulers that would normally send units to volume reduction facilities or waste-to-energy facilities. Overall, MRC increased the number of mattresses collected from the previous year by 12 percent to 213,540.
To collect mattresses discarded from residents and businesses across the state, MRC has recruited nearly 300 entities including municipal transfer stations, waste haulers, nonprofit organizations, mattress retailers, hotels, universities and hospitals to recycle through Bye Bye Mattress. Residents in 140 municipalities have the option to drop off old mattresses at no-cost at collection sites, collection events or through their municipality’s bulky item curbside program. This comprehensive network provides coverage to nearly 98 percent of the state’s residents.
Once the mattresses arrive at a recycling facility, they are cut open and layers of material are separated and prepared for sale. Major uses for the reclaimed material include carpet padding, insulation, filters and new steel products. “MRC and the mattress industry are encouraged by the continued growth of mattress recycling efforts in Connecticut,” said MRC’s Managing Director Mike O’Donnell. “We are creating solutions to Connecticut’s solid waste challenges, and we share the state’s commitment to sustainability and the environment.”