ISPA has drafted proposed federal legislation, The Used Mattress Recycling Act, to help create a national program for recycling used mattress parts. Further details on this legislation will be shared with members at the ISPA EXPO in Indianapolis during a special session on mattress recycling and in upcoming regional meetings. The EXPO session will be on March 16 at 11 a.m. The session will feature presentations from two well-established mattress recyclers Mary Sharkey, of St. Vincent de Paul Society of Lane County, OR, and Pascal Cohen, of Recyc-Mattresses Inc., based in Pointe-Claire, Quebec – and moderated by ISPA president Ryan Trainer. Be sure to mark your EXPO calendars to attend this important session and hear more about our industry’s legislative efforts for 2012.

This legislative effort is designed to create a practical national system for used mattress recycling and protect the industry from potentially damaging costs and inefficiencies that will result as multiple states pursue their own stand-alone legislation. The bill establishing this system will:

  • Create a “Mattress Recycling Council” – a new, nonprofit, volunteer-led group that represents the needs of manufacturers, retailers, consumers and government, and is charged with supporting the development of a robust national mattress recycling program.
  • Collect a single small, visible fee for mattress recovery at each point of sale through the mattress industry that is remitted to the Mattress Recycling Council.
  • Combat illegitimate mattress scavenging and “renovator” operations that are unsanitary and dangerous to consumers and our industry’s reputation.
  • Operate with federal oversight from the U.S. Commerce Secretary, the leader of a business-supportive, Cabinet-level Federal agency.

Once the bill is enacted, the program will be initiated only after members of the industry have had an opportunity to voice their opinions on the proposed national solution, and the vote on that proposal through an industry wide referendum.

Read further details on why a national solution is needed, an update on efforts by Connecticut and Rhode Island to impose costly and inefficient recycling obligations on mattress manufacturers that sell products in those states, and how members of the industry can help oppose these state bills and support ISPA’s federal legislative effort.