Rhode Island doesn't adopt mattress recycling bill, a victory for ISPA

Organization supports a national program

David Perry -- Furniture Today, June 21, 2012

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The International Sleep Products Assn. gained another victory on the mattress recycling front, this time in Rhode Island.

The state's legislature recently adjourned without voting on mattress recycling bills that ISPA said would have imposed significant and unreasonable additional costs on mattress manufacturers, retailers and consumers.

As an alternative to state recycling programs like those proposed in Rhode Island and other states, ISPA is leading the push for a national mattress recycling program.

"ISPA firmly believes that the best approach to efficiently recycling used mattress materials is to do this nationally," said ISPA President Ryan Trainer. "This will encourage economies of scale which will result in more efficient recycling and lower costs. It will also create a uniform set of rules regardless of where the new mattress was bought or the used mattress was discarded. State-specific programs will inevitably lead to inconsistencies from one state to the next and higher recycling costs."

Earlier, ISPA won a victory on the mattress recycling front in Connecticut, where mattress recycling legislation failed to become law. Currently ISPA is working to defeat a recycling measure in California.

ISPA has been working since the 1980s to encourage responsible recycling of used mattress materials and supports the development of legitimate recycling operations. The association will continue to work with state and local governments to address the mattress disposal challenges that municipalities face while continuing to advocate for a broad-ranging national solution, ISPA officials said.