Facing the Dilemma of Mattress Disposal

If there’s one household item that’s very hard to replace, it’s your mattress. It’s not really the buying that poses the problem but disposing the old one without much hurt to Mother Nature.

However, a lot of retail companies today offer to dispose the mattresses in return for buying new ones from them. But come to think of it, there are retail companies that merely collect used mattresses and sooner or later dump them in landfills, which are running out of space for other garbage. Unfortunately for consumers, when it comes to mattress disposal, you are given very limited options.

Throwing

The simplest and easiest way of disposing your mattress is to put it on the road beside other garbage and just wait for the dump truck service men to collect it. But this idea is appalling especially when you’re an advocate of an environmental group. Depending on the local arrangement in your area, you can call your council to arrange the collection of the used mattress from your house. Better yet, find time to take it to your local waste management site, if there’s one available.

Reusing

Depending on the age and condition of your mattresses, you may be able to donate them to local charities. However, there are cases where these charities have to comply with regulations about used mattresses which concern health and sanitation not to mention the safety issue.

Refurbishing and Renovating

Because of the greater pressure from environmentalists regarding the disposal of used mattresses and their clamor that mattress producers should be hold responsible for their mattress from production until the time of its disposal, there are companies that refurbish them. However, selling refurbished mattresses face strong resistance from consumers because of hygienic reasons. Moreover, there are very strict standard that these refurbishing companies have to conform to, specially safety and sanitation.

Recycling

Recycling used mattresses is probably the most feasible and environment-friendly way of addressing the problem of mattress disposal. It means tearing down a mattress to its original parts and using the materials for other useful purposes. You may want to look for companies nearest you that offer this service or if you’re able and can find time, you can do the tearing and the recycling yourself. Wood, metal springs, cotton and foam are some of the recyclable materials you can salvage from your used mattress. Cotton and foam can be sold to companies that utilize them for insulation, as filler for moving blankets or as carpet padding. The wood is not a problem when there are wood chippers around. Lastly, the metal springs are not very hard to sell because there are a lot of companies that recycle metal.

When the time comes that you’re going to sleep for the first time in your new mattress, think about how you disposed of your old one and it will surely be a good night’s sleep knowing that you handled it carefully without compromising much the planet.