Mattress Recycling – Why?

It has been recorded in the past years that a majority of Australians tend to change their mattress every eight to ten years. This means that every year, the increased amount of mattress disposal results in a large sum of materials and steel that inevitably end up in landfill and contribute to the increased pollution and contamination of surrounding areas and water streams. With the waste that is disposed to landfill, these materials have found their way into ground water systems, soils and earth matter, and has been found to produce a type of greenhouse gas. This proves not only to pollute our direct environment and contaminate our resources but also pollutes our air and contributes largely to the increasing issue of global warming.

As we are beginning to realise these detrimental factors of mattress waste disposal, mattress recycling has now become an increasing trend in major cities, particularly Melbourne. Mattress recycling offers an alternative approach to waste disposal where up to 80% of the waste materials are recycled, refurbished and put to further use. This, in turn is significantly reducing the total waste disposal and landfill as a product of mattresses. However, mattresses are not easy items to recycle, particularly in large volumes and it can become a burden for for people to find ways to do so. Fortunately many new and developing business have invested time and money into producing a system of recycling that takes this burden away.

Initiatives such as Bedcollect have developed a formulated system where old and unwanted mattresses may be collected and recycled to redirect the waste product. From this, Bedcollect are able to manufacture and deliver recycled and refurbished beds to charities across the city of Melbourne. Bedcollect is dedicated and committed to tackling this environmental issue and making a sustainable impact on mattress disposal and environmental health. Already these projects have significantly reduced the amount of waste product projected towards landfill and recycled over hundreds of thousands of materials, ultimately reducing our overall environmental footprint.

 

So how is this achieved?

Bedcollect run and organise planned mattress pick up at locations within a 30km radius of the Melbourne CBD. This allows general patrons to forget the stress of transporting their large mattress all the way across the city, making it easier and more practical for all. Bedcollect then transport the mattress to a warehouse where the parts are stripped and collected and then used again to make and process new beds for charitable organisations. Each diverse material within the make of mattresses have their own varying commercial use. This then allows for all steels, textiles and carpet fabrics to be recycled in these individual manufacturing areas for other use as well.

Mattress production is an ongoing industry and so it is pivotal that we recognise the importance of mattress recycling. Mattress recycling reduces the high dependency on landfill and gives us the opportunity to improve the quality of our air, water systems, and local soils. Ultimately this practice will make the hassle of recycling unwanted beds easier for all and can directly improve our overall health as a population.