"They create problems and challenges for us in the landfill and in addition to that we were also hearing this need in our community from a few folks and there’s not a place locally to drop them off and so we explored partnerships," Erick Roberts, Superintendent of Solid Waste said.
The city is partnering with bead head recycling out of Billings, Missouri to take apart the mattresses.Â
"For $15 per piece, you can now drop your mattresses off to recycling in Springfield and Behead will take those to their facility in Billings and break them down into their different recycled components and market those recycled materials," Roberts said.
Getting the mattresses taken apart solves a lot of potential problems at the landfill.
"They can actually tear up bulldozers and pieces of machinery we use out there," Roberts said. "By design mattresses are made to last a long time and be sort of indestructible and so they maintain those properties when they get to the landfill."
This container collecting these mattresses will hopefully make it easier for people looking to dispose of and if all goes well the city could offer more items to recycle in the future.
"They have the ability to recycle some other materials like carpet pad cushions and things like that so if this is successful we may expand the partnership with them and see this be a long-term niche in the community," Roberts said.
You can drop off the mattresses at Lone Pine Recycling Center or Springfield Sanitary Landfill locations.
The requirements for accepted mattresses need to be relatively clean and dry and with no infestation.
To read the full story, visit http://www.kspr.com/content/news/Springfield-recycling-centers-now-taking-in-mattresses-to-recycle-478143273.html.