ALEXANDRIA, Va. – In the past year, the Mattress Recycling Council (MRC) has hosted two workshops to address the causes of and potential solutions for illegal dumping in California. A report with findings from the workshops has now been released and is available here.
A one-day interactive workshop, “Addressing Root Causes and Growing Solutions” held in October in Oakland gathered experts from across the state who work with the issue of illegal dumping in a professional capacity. Participants were led through a series of exercises and discussions to share ideas and potential solutions based on their experience.
In January, MRC sponsored a second interactive workshop at the Central California Environmental Justice Network conference. Attendees of two 50-minute workshop sessions included residents, activists and representatives of nonprofit organizations and neighborhood groups with an interest in environmental justice in the Central Valley. They shared their experiences of living in communities with high levels of illegal dumping and input on solutions.
The results from both events indicate that due to the broad spectrum of illegal dumpers and dumping practices, multiple approaches by multiple stakeholders will be required to address the problem. Recommended action includes legislative policy, government agency involvement, funding, evaluating solid waste collection methods, nonprofit assistance, education and outreach, community participation, behavior change and a collective commitment to joint problem-solving.
The workshops and report are part of MRC’s ongoing commitment to mitigating illegal mattress dumping and information learned will be incorporated into the development of best practices.