NATIONAL REPORT—The early June announcement by CKI Solutions that it has entered the mattress recycling business elevates the number of companies specializing in nationwide hospitality mattress recycling to at least two. Another is DH Companies. Green Lodging News spoke with Steven Gordon, President of CKI Solutions, about his company’s new venture.
“We have been in the bedding accessory business for 22 years,” Gordon says. “About five or six years ago we started manufacturing mattresses for the cruise industry in partnership with Hilding Anders AB. We saw the green initiatives in the cruise industry. There was a major void in mattress recycling.”
CKI Solutions partnered with Hospitality Bedding Solutions to offer mattress recycling under the umbrella of GreenSource Mattress Removal and Recycling. Today, GreenSource Mattress Removal and Recycling can pick up old mattresses and box springs not only from cruise ships but also from any lodging establishment in the lower 48 states. The mattresses and box springs are delivered to a certified recycling plant in one of the 48 states.
“For us it has been exciting,” Gordon says. “We are able to recycle 90 percent of any mattress. If it is foam or inner spring, we can do it.”
A Significant, Positive Environmental Impact
According to CKI Solutions, one recycled mattress can save 65 pounds of toxic material from entering landfills. The recycling of 10,000 mattresses equates to approximately 125 tons of steel, 20 tons of wood and 15 tons of foam. Recycling this material saves 239 tons of CO2, which is the equivalent to planting 373 trees.
Gordon says mattress recycling is good for the environment and provides hotels with a good, green story to tell. He adds that CKI Solutions is working on a certification program for those hotels that do recycle their mattresses.
Three states—California, Connecticut and Rhode Island—currently require mattress recycling. “California has recycled more than five million mattresses,” Gordon says, adding that areas of the United States except the Pacific Northwest have an ample amount of centers for mattress recycling.
Even though its mattress recycling business is just a few months old, GreenSource Mattress Removal and Recycling has already worked with MGM Resorts, Las Vegas Sands, Boyd Gaming Hotel & Casinos, Wynn Resorts, as well as multiple ships for both Holland America and American Cruise Lines.
Glenn Hasek can be reached at editor@greenlodgingnews.com.
