Home Publisher's Point of View Yes, It Can Be Less Expensive to Recycle Than Landfill a Mattress

Yes, It Can Be Less Expensive to Recycle Than Landfill a Mattress

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I spoke with Ryan Trainer, president of the International Sleep Products Assn. (ISPA) this past week about mattress recycling. It is a huge issue in our industry and throughout the world but one Trainer said his organization does not want to “take an ownership interest in.” I really don’t blame ISPA at all; getting a glove on mattress recycling is a gargantuan task. I contacted several of the leading mattress manufacturers also, wondering if they provide mattress recycling services for their customers. They all said no. One company spokesman said his company conducted a trial recycling program with one hotel company but there was no money to be made. At least he was honest about it.

If mattress makers are unwilling to take mattresses back themselves, they can at least do a better job educating their customers about recycling and connecting them with those companies or agencies doing it. Scan the websites of companies like Simmons, Serta and Sealy and you will easily find some conversation about what environmentally responsible steps they are taking before a mattress is sold to a hotel. But what to do at the end of a mattress’ life? Good luck; you are on your own. 

Thank goodness for entrepreneurs like those mentioned in my recent article on mattress recycling. (See article.) They are proving that mattress recycling makes economic sense almost 100 percent of the time. That’s right, almost every single time it costs less to recycle a mattress than send it to a landfill. “There can be a significant cost savings,” says Chuck Brickman, owner and president of Willoughby, Ohio-based Ohio Mattress Recovery and Recycling.

Many Not Aware of Recycling Option

Brickman told me that the biggest barrier to mattress recycling is education. Most owners and operators in our industry do not know that recycling, in most cases, is a very viable option. The American Hotel & Lodging Association, in the “Green” section of its website, includes bulb, battery and ballast recycling as one of its “11 Minimum Guidelines for Going Green,” but not mattress recycling. Why not? 

I wrote about mattress recycling several years ago. Since that time, several companies have begun offering nationwide (in the United States) mattress pick-up. There are also more drop-off locations today than there were at that time. Granted, there are still not enough—ISPA’s site lists just 23 organizations in the United States that recycle mattresses and just five in Canada—but at least it is becoming easier to recycle.

When purchasing new mattresses for your property, be sure to do everything you can to avoid the landfill option for your used mattresses. Challenge your suppliers to help you find a workable recycling option. If they look at you like you are from Mars when you ask about recycling, consider taking your business elsewhere. If a mattress manufacturer tells you their products are “green” but has no end-of-life solution for its mattresses, ask them if they know the meaning of “greenwash.”

I would love to hear from you about mattress recycling. Have you tried to do it? Been successful? Unsuccessful? What have been your challenges? Have vendors been responsive to your concerns? I can be reached at editor@greenlodgingnews.com.

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Green Lodging News Adds Protect-A-Bed as Directory Partner

Green Lodging News welcomes Protect-A-Bed as a Green Product & Service Directory partner. Protect-A-Bed offers a complete line of protective bedding products designed to preserve mattresses and keep them out of landfills. AllerZip is the world’s first scientifically proven bed bug entry, escape and bite proof mattress encasement featuring the patented BugLock with SecureSeal three-sided zipper system. The products also offer allergy protection, which helps hotels create a healthy and restful sleep environment. Protect-A-Bed also offers mattress pads, pillow protectors and other items. For more information, e-mail Sandra@protectabed.com, call (866) 297-8836, or go to www.protectabed.com.

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