ByeBye Mattress Program Reaches 205,000 Mattresses Recycled in 147 Towns, Cities

As it enters its seventh year of operation, the sustainability program ByeBye Mattress announced that it has successfully reached a milestone by recycling 205,000 mattresses in 147 towns and cities.

According to The Mattress Recycling Council, when residents of Connecticut recycle their old mattresses as well as box springs, they turn them into other useful items like carpet padding, insulation, filters, and new steel products.

ByeBye Mattress

According to Dan McGowan, MRC's northeast program coordinator, the non-profit organization reported that its "ByeBye Mattress" program had a successful seventh year, announcing that it recycled 205,000 mattresses and also box spring units - at no cost to the 147 towns and cities it works with.

They were merely trying to spread the word, according to McGowan.

All mattresses and bases sold in Connecticut have a recycling fee that is $11.75 per unit for consumers who buy them. The fee enables the MRC to set up various locations in the municipalities it works with as well as disassemble the box spring units.

Residents can dispose of their old mattresses in bins at town distribution centers, recycling facilities, and public works yards, or they can arrange for curbside collection of large items in their towns or cities.

Diverted, Recycled Materials

According to McGowan, this year saw the diversion of over 3,700 tons of steel, fiber, foam, and wood from the waste stream and their conversion into useful products. Wood can be used for composting and mulching, according to McGowan.

Counts for recycled mattresses have reached over 1.2 million since the program's launch in 2015, diverting over 21,000 tons of steel, fiber, foam, and wood from landfills and incinerators.

According to McGowan, the service offers a practical means of assisting individuals in getting rid of a large piece of furniture without adding a financial strain to the communities they reside in.

McGowan added that the program is available to mattress retailers, hotels, hospitals, colleges and universities, and property managers in addition to serving municipalities. They only need to find the location of the closest recycling center. Call ahead as some locations may restrict access to town residents, CTNewsJunkie reports.

Read also: Recycling Old Freezers, Refrigerators in El Paso Reduces Energy Consumption, Pays $70 - Texas 

U.S. Recycling System Overview

There are three steps in the recycling process. It starts with the collection, followed by processing, and finally, remanufacturing into a new product. However, the process can vary depending on the commodity and location. The US Environmental Protection Agency details these steps.

Collection: Consumers or businesses produce recyclable materials, which are then collected by either an authorized or registered private hauler or government agency.

Processing: The collector delivers the materials to a processing facility, such as a paper mill or a materials recovery facility. The recyclables are sorted, decontaminated, and ready for transport to a milling or cutting facility or straight to a manufacturing facility at the processing facility. Certain products might need more processing to undergo additional sorting as well as decontamination.

For instance, glass and plastic are frequently delivered to facilities that process them into mill-ready forms: glass beneficiation plants as well as plastics reclaimers, respectively.

Remanufacturing: Recyclables are transformed into new finished goods at recycling centers or other facilities, including paper mills or bottle manufacturing facilities after all necessary processing is finished.

According to The Verge, the new recycling strategy was adopted in November 2021. The EPA today unveiled its recycling plans, which are merely the first in "a series" of upcoming documents the organization plans to publish to advance the "circular economy," or an economy in which resources are recovered and then reused to create new products rather than being disposed of in landfills. It is a kind of subliminal admission that recycling alone won't significantly reduce the world's trash problems.

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