Last week, a Rhode Island State Representative introduced legislation (RI HB 8498) to repeal the Mattress Recycling Council’s (MRC) enabling legislation in its entirety. This legislation was introduced after the bill filing deadline in Rhode Island. Despite this, the bill received a hearing on May 5th before the Rhode Island House Corporations Committee. ISPA submitted this letter of opposition and provided in-person testimony opposing the bill and highlighting the success of MRC’s Rhode Island program. After the hearing, the bill was held for further study, and ISPA does not anticipate it advancing during Rhode Island’s 2026 legislative session.

As of May 1, 2026, MRC’s program has been operating in the Ocean State for a decade. During this time, MRC has recycled over 875,000 mattresses and diverted more than 30 million pounds of material from Rhode Island’s state landfill, saving 866,000 cubic yards of limited landfill space.