News

According to the Mattress Recycling Council (MRC)’s latest report to state officials, more than 83% of mattresses discarded in the state in 2019 were diverted from California landfills, up 3 percentage points from the previous year. This achievement is a testament to the ongoing success of the statewide mattress recycling program known to consumers as Bye Bye Mattress. MRC’s press release about the 2019 California Annual Report garnered coverage in both the trade and national press, as well as local papers. Learn More

If you’ve been home during the COVID-19 pandemic, you’ve likely cleaned every part of your house. If tossing and buying a new mattress was on your list, you’re not alone. There’s been an uptick in mattress recycling since the pandemic began. Mattresses and box springs on the side of the road is something Dan McGowan cringes about. “We want to recycle every mattress that gets disposed of in the state. Anyone who is looking to get rid of a mattress or box spring, we are looking to recycle,” McGowan said. New Haven’s CBS affiliate features a story about mattress recycling during the pandemic. Learn More

New Haven’s landfill might have had 139,000 pounds more waste it in it — if not for 2,600 mattresses that have been recycled since January 2019. The recycling happened thanks to a statewide effort called Bye Bye Mattress. Officials are trying to get the word out so more people know about recycling their old mattresses — which helps protect the environment. Read the New Haven Independent's article about mattress recycling. Learn More

Today, it’s not enough to create economically and ecologically sound recycling processes for our company, alone. We also need to forge innovative new approaches for handling post-consumer waste. Take mattresses. With California, Connecticut and Rhode Island already requiring the mattress industry to implement statewide recycling programs, we understand that as a major supplier to the polyurethane foam industry, we must be part of the solution. MRC’s partnership with Covestro was featured in their magazine on page 34. Learn More

Waste Today video interview with MRC’s Managing Director Mike O’Donnell and Industry Communications Manager Lori Barnes. “We spoke with the Mattress Recycling Council about its efforts to keep more mattresses out of landfills and get more materials back into the material stream. Right now, about 70 percent of each mattress is recyclable. So far, more than 6 million mattresses have been recycled and kept out of landfills.” Learn More

Ray and Joe D. on WTIC Talk 1080 in Hartford interviewed MRC’s Justine Fallon about MRC and Bye Bye Mattress in Connecticut. “This important recycling program continues in Connecticut as an essential service during the Covid-19 shutdown. Towns are still accepting mattresses and the recycling plants are open and working.” Learn More

With Earth Day celebrated on April 22, the Mattress Recycling Program is set to mark its five-year anniversary, on May 1. Mattress recycling operations continue at facilities such as Willimantic Waste, even during the COVID-19 shutdown. More than 80 percent of a mattress can be recycled, eliminating tons of waste from landfills. MRC has focused its efforts on sustainable mattress recycling, and has become a leader in an evolving worldwide recycling landscape. Article in the Hartford Courant noting MRC’s six million mattress milestone and mattress recycling in Connecticut. Learn More

Today, April 22, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. What a milestone. It is fitting that while Earth Day has reached this auspicious milestone, the Mattress Recycling Council (MRC) reached an environmental milestone of its own: recycling more than six million mattresses in less than five years through its Bye Bye Mattress program. Six million mattresses equate to more than 210 million pounds of material diverted from landfills by MRC’s recyclers. This is an op-ed appearing in the Connecticut Mirror on Earth Day detailing the success of MRC program-wide and in Connecticut. Learn More