Winnipeg is Collecting Mattresses and Boxsprings for Recycling, Should Toronto?
The City of Winnipeg has partnered with the Mother Earth Recycling organization to collect mattresses and boxsprings throughout the next year leading into January, 2020. It is expected more than 8,000 mattresses and boxsprings will be collected, keeping these from Winnipeg landfills. Comparatively, assuming Toronto were to implement a similar program, we could potentially save a lot of landfill space simply by targeting mattresses and boxsprings.
Living in Toronto, we all have been driving, riding the TTC, or walking by, and seen mattresses or boxsprings on the sidewalk. These are breeding ground for bed bugs and pests. They sit there, collect rain, and don’t really contribute to the ‘beautiful city’ perception Toronto wants to give. Not to mention, for property managers, discarded mattresses are troublesome to deal with. Winnipeg’s 1-year commitment to mattress and boxspring collection is a pilot project with a designated budget of $193,000.
The organization Winnipeg has chosen to partner with is Mother Earth Recycling, an Indigenous-owned social enterprise well-known in Winnipeg for being their only mattress recycling service. Mother Earth Recycling takes apart mattresses for their fabric, foam, metal, and wood. These materials are then separated and recycled. There are actually many opportunities to recycle mattress and boxspring components like these. For example, foam can be used as carpet underlay, the metal is easily recycled into cans, and the wood can be made into firewood and craft materials.
This is an absolutely beautiful initiative for Winnipeg to undertake. Sadly in Toronto, private companies are willing to pick up one’s mattresses and boxspring however it comes at a cost. There’s no telling what happens to these materials after they are picked up as well. The landfill’s the usual destination. The difficulty of implementing a mattress and boxspring collection in Toronto would admittedly be a challenge, as it’s on a larger scale than Winnipeg, however the results are the reward. Although it remains to be seen how Winnipeg’s pilot project will turn out, we are hoping and strongly believe there will be a positive result.
Winnipeg’s mattress and boxspring collection campaign is not accepting air mattresses, waterbeds, bed frames, sofa bed frames, or mattresses which are wet, soiled, burnt, mouldy, or infested with bedbugs. Part of what the campaign hopes to resolve in Winnipeg is the city’s growing discarded mattress problem. Some property management companies are dealing with up to 500 abandoned mattresses every year. These mattresses are both incredibly dirty and present a fire hazard.
The high number of abandoned mattresses, whether it’s in Winnipeg or Toronto, is easily understood. For residents, pick-up fees can be avoided by dumping off the mattress and boxspring somewhere and/or bringing it to the landfill tied to the roof of a vehicle. Winnipeg’s project has been capped at 8,000 mattresses and sadly, no further items above 8,000 will be collected.
As a Toronto waste management company, Core Mini Bins believes a mattress and boxspring collection pilot project in the city could be majorly beneficial. It should not be acceptable to dump these items onto the street, as is the case today. Unfortunately, residents have their hands tied regarding where to put or how to recycle mattresses in Toronto. If you believe Core Mini Bins can assist with your mattress, boxspring, or waste needs, don’t hesitate to give us a call.
