US Mattress Recycling Efforts Recover 650 Million Pounds of Material

A mattress recycling programme in United States has recovered about 650 million pounds of materials from more than 17 million discarded mattresses, according to Product Stewardship Institute (PSI). Around 50,000 mattresses are discarded every day in the US, adding up to nearly 18 million every year. Most end up in landfills, even though more than 80 per cent of the materials inside them can be recycled. A mattress is one of the largest items most households throw away. It contains steel, foam, wood, cotton and fibre, all of which have value if they are separated properly. However, because these materials are tightly packed together, recycling them requires specialised facilities that are not available in many places. As a result, most discarded mattresses are buried in landfills instead of being recycled. According to a report by Ecoportal, only a few US states have built systems to collect and recycle them on a large scale, while much of the country still depends on landfill disposal.

Mattresses create problems in landfills

Landfills rely on heavy machines that compress waste to save space. The more rubbish they can squeeze into a smaller area, the longer the landfill can continue operating. Mattresses do not compress well. Even after being crushed by landfill equipment, one mattress still takes up about 23 cubic feet of space, roughly the size of a small refrigerator. When this is multiplied by around 18 million discarded mattresses every year, it uses up a huge amount of landfill space. Unlike many other types of waste, landfill space cannot simply be created whenever it is needed. Once it fills up, authorities must find new locations or expand existing sites.

Steel springs damage heavy machinery

Mattresses also create problems for waste management equipment. Traditional innerspring mattresses contain steel coils. Instead of flattening during compaction, these coils often twist and become tangled. Steel wires can wrap around the moving parts of landfill compactors, including shafts and drums. Workers have to stop the machines and manually cut away the tangled metal before operations can continue. The same coils can also damage equipment at waste-to-energy plants, where rubbish is burned to generate electricity. Another issue appears after the mattresses are buried. Because they do not compress evenly, they leave empty spaces underground. Over time, these voids can cause the land above them to settle unevenly. These are the main reasons some US states introduced specific rules for mattress disposal.

Since 2015, MRC has recycled more than 17 million mattresses and recovered 650 million pounds of material.

Mattress recycling programmes

While most discarded mattresses still end up in landfills, some US states have developed recycling systems. Massachusetts banned the disposal of mattresses in landfills from November 2022. Meanwhile, California created a recycling programme funded through a small fee added when a new mattress is purchased. The programme began in 2016. By the end of 2023, the programme had recycled more than 10 million mattresses and recovered over 380 million pounds of steel, foam, fibre and wood, according to the report. Connecticut, Rhode Island and Oregon also operate similar programmes. These states report recycling rates that are much higher than the national average, which stands at around 19 per cent.

Mattress recycling process

A mattress contains several different materials that can be recovered. At a recycling plant, workers first cut open the outer fabric covering. The steel springs are removed and sent to scrap metal recyclers, where they can be melted down and used again. The polyurethane foam is shredded before being processed into products such as carpet padding. Cotton and fibre materials can be reused in industrial filters or insulation products. The wooden frame is chipped and later used as mulch or fuel.

Limited recycling facilities

There are only about 61 dedicated mattress recycling facilities across the United States and Canada. This means recycling services are available only in certain regions. In many places, residents have no option other than sending old mattresses to landfill. Where recycling programmes do exist, many retailers offer take-back services when delivering a new mattress. For a small fee, they collect the old mattress and send it for recycling. If such services are unavailable, local solid waste offices may provide information about drop-off centres or scheduled collection days.