First mattress muster is a dream success
Published on 11 January 2021
More than 700 mattresses weighing in at 17 tonnes will be recycled into products such as roof sheeting and carpet underlay as a result of Singleton’s first ever Mattress Muster held on Saturday.
A total of 313 residents deposited 706 mattresses at the Singleton Waste Management Facility in the first of two new waste initiatives for 2021 that will also include free tyre drop off days.
Drop offs were limited to four mattresses per customer.
Justin Fitzpatrick-Barr, Singleton Council’s Director Infrastructure and Planning, said the mattress collection was one of two new waste initiatives for 2021 addressing objectives in the Singleton Sustainability Strategy.
“The first time doing anything always poses the potential for issues, but we are really pleased with how smooth the drop off day went, despite the rain, and the positive feedback we’ve received from residents is rewarding,” he said.
“We know that disposing of unwanted mattresses can be costly, and it was great to see so many residents come out to use this opportunity to dispose of their unwanted mattresses for free.
“We hope this initiative will help to address the incidence of illegal dumping associated with mattresses and reduce the costs to ratepayers in having to clean them up.
“Most importantly, 75 per cent of each mattress that we received will now be recycled, so the Mattress Muster was good for the environment as well as the budget.”
Mattress components that can be recycled include:
- Steel springs – recycled into products such as roof sheeting
- Foam – recycled into products such as carpet underlay
- Husk – recycled into weed matting and mulch
- Timber – recycled into kindling, mulch and animal bedding
- Fabric – used in products such as acoustic paneling
“Our residents tell us that reducing landfill and our impact on the environment is important to them, and we’re always looking for new initiatives to meet the objectives in our Sustainability Strategy as well as providing a practical service,” Mr Fitzpatrick-Barr said.
“We will be holding another Mattress Muster later in the year, although the date is yet to be set. We’ll also introduce two free tyre drop off days in 2021, in addition to our annual bulk collection in November and regular kerbside collections.
“More information about all of our waste initiatives will be available when dates are finalised. You can keep up to date by following Singleton Council on Facebook or head to our website.”
ENDS