Mirror legislation has been introduced by Delegate Amy Laufer (VA HB 1974) and Senator Angelia Williams Graves (VA SB 990) to establish a mattress recycling program in Virginia. ISPA worked with both sponsors to craft this legislation. Importantly, this legislation follows the structure that has enabled the Mattress Recycling Council to operate efficiently in existing states and allows for the flexibility needed to make the program a success in the Commonwealth.   

This week, ISPA was set to testified in support of these bills before the Virginia House Agriculture, Chesapeake, and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Natural Resources and the Virginia Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation, and Natural Resources, however, given some strong opposition and the need to further engage on this type of program in the state, the bills were changed to study bills for both tires and mattresses. Thus, if successful, and ISPA will support the study bills as well, there will be a commission established to review the issue and make recommendations to the legislature in 2026 for future programs. 

Virginia has a very short, 45-day legislative session. ISPA will keep you updated on any key developments related to these bills. If passed, ISPA intends to assist the commission in recognizing the MRC program as the right path for legislation in the next session. 

If you have any questions or want to get involved, please contact ISPA’s Government Affairs Team (Alison Keane, Grant Johnson, and Marty Salamone).