Resource Recovery vs Waste Disposal: OCWR Mattress Recycling Program

About the Program

Category: County Resiliency (Best in Category)

Year: 2021

Landfill capacity is a finite resource and recycling rather than burying appropriate materials is a more-critical-than-ever form of environmental stewardship for our planet. OC Waste & Recycling (OCWR) has created a program to recover mattresses, which both preserves landfill space and recovers recyclable resources. Each year in California?there are millions of mattresses and box springs that have surpassed their lifespan. The size of mattresses as a consumable item complicates easy disposal and affordable recycling, which leads to illegal dumping. That comes with multiple costs for jurisdictions. Eighty to 90 percent of the materials in mattresses by weight are recyclable. The steel and polyurethane contained in most mattresses offer a positive market value. To address illegal disposal and the ever-increasing need for recycling, the State of California created the California Used Mattress Recovery and Recycling Act, which provides for free mattress disposal. In Orange County, Calif., OCWR is the County department responsible for waste management. OCWR has embraced this act and partnered with the Mattress Recycling Council to ensure the recycling of recoverable mattress materials through the?Bye Bye Mattress Program.