California, United States -- Mattress and box spring (divan) buyers in California will pay an $11 recycling fee on their bedding after a Mattress Recycling Council (MRC) initiative won local approval.
The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) approved the move - which will be known to consumers as Bye Bye Mattress - on 1 October, 2015.
Mattress retailers and other sellers must collect the fee from December 30, 2015, and it applies to all sales of new, used and renovated mattresses and box springs.
In May 2015, MRC launched the nation’s first Bye Bye Mattress recycling program in Connecticut and has recycled over 50,000 units to date. Rhode Island has a similar law and expects its program to begin in the Spring of 2016.
MRC estimates that in the United States, at least 20m mattresses and box springs are discarded each year when consumers replace their old mattress with a new one. This averages about 50,000 units per day.
