Dive Brief:

• The Minneapolis City Council in Minnesota is considering the establishment of a statewide mattress recycling program.
• The formation of a recycling initiative is seen as a way to increase the diversion rate and decrease the expense of landfilling these bulky items. 
• In December, the City Council will decide whether to push forward and bring the issue to the Legislature. 

Dive Insight:

At a cost of $18 per mattress and box spring, Minneapolis spends $600,000 to recycle 34,000 mattresses annually. Mattresses are among the most costly item the city recycles. Dave Herberholz, the Minneapolis Solid Waste and Recycling director said recycled material (from mattresses) “does not come close to offsetting the internal cost.” 

Dismantling the mattress itself is not an easy job; in general, one worker can disassemble 35 mattresses per shift. The steel cage is considered the most valuable piece of a mattress; this part is put into a baler, then is sold and melted. Foam from the mattress is transformed into carpet padding and the cotton is repurposed to act as an absorbent material used to soak up spills in North Dakota oil fields.