Habitat for Humanity East Bay/Silicon Valley Awarded Grant to Improve Mattress Recycling at Local Restore

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Mattress Recycling Council (MRC), which operates the Bye Bye Mattress program, has awarded a grant for $3,757 to Habitat for Humanity East Bay/Silicon Valley. The funds will be used to install additional lights and a ramp at their Oakland ReStore to make it easier for employees to accept used mattresses and box springs for recycling. The ReStore – already well-known in the neighborhood as a donation and shopping center for reusable home goods that support Habitat’s affordable housing work – became a designated mattress drop-off location for the Bye Bye Mattress program last year. Habitat for Humanity East Bay/Silicon Valley has collected 18,000 mattresses for recycling through residential and business drop-offs since joining the program. ReStore is located at 9235 San Leandro Blvd. in Oakland. 

“By offering the ReStore as a mattress drop-off location, we are helping keep streets cleaner and landfills lighter. It also brings more like-minded people through our doors, which in turn brings in more donations and more money to further support our work in the community,” said Patti Wang Cross, PR & Events Manager for Habitat for Humanity East Bay/Silicon Valley. “With this funding from MRC, we will be able to make improvements that will better serve our community.” 

MRC has awarded more than $300,000 in funding to Bye Bye Mattress collection sites throughout California to fund infrastructure improvements or equipment purchases to increase the recyclability of discarded mattresses and box springs. 

“Providing these grants is just one of the ways we continue to work with the more than 200 mattress collection sites throughout California to increase productivity and divert as much material as possible from state landfills,” said Mike O’Donnell, managing director of MRC. “The program serves as a global model for successful mattress recycling and we want to continue that leadership.”

To date, MRC’s Bye Bye Mattress program has recycled more than five million mattresses in California, equating to more than 168 million pounds of material kept out of state landfills. More than 80 percent of a mattress can be recycled and turned into new consumer and industrial products.