ISPA to host session on mattress recycling issue at Las Vegas Market

David Perry -- Furniture Today, January 21, 2013

LAS VEGAS — The mattress recycling issue is heating up.

The International Sleep Products Assn. is sponsoring an educational session on the controversial issue at the Las Vegas Market. Set for Tuesday, Jan. 29, at 3 p.m. in World Market Center B-960, the event will examine challenges facing the industry from states seeking to impose what ISPA says would be burdensome mattress recycling programs.

Speakers will include Ryan Trainer, ISPA president; Dale Carlsen, CEO of Citrus Heights, Calif.-based retailer Sleep Train, and Tchad Robinson, managing partner of Clark Robinson Capital, which will soon open a mattress recycling facility in southern California.

Trainer said the session is designed to educate the industry on efforts being taken in several states to thwart what ISPA calls "burdensome mattress recycling laws that threaten mattress manufacturers and retailers."

A number of states have proposed "overreaching recycling proposals that could cost mattress manufacturers and retailers millions each year, costs which consumers will ultimately bear," Trainer said. "Fortunately, many state legislators have recognized the need to step in to craft and advocate for sound public policy that will address mattress recycling concerns and state mandates, maintain job creation, and won't bankrupt our industry."

He said ISPA remains committed "to forging workable, reasonable outcomes to this national issue."

Trainer said ISPA will be working with California state Sen. Lou Correa, a Democrat from Santa Ana, who will be drafting mattress recycling legislation for the upcoming California legislative session.

In a statement, Correa said he hopes to strike a balance between landfill protection and mattress industry concerns.

"A good mattress is essential to our lifestyle," he said. "Yet, at the end of its lifecycle, mattresses add tremendous strain on our landfills and contribute to community blight when they are dumped in our neighborhoods. I am pleased to be crafting a legislative measure that balances landfill pressures and environmental concerns with industry concerns.

"My legislation will seek to strike a balance that will incentivize Californians to recycle used mattresses, thus easing the burden on our landfills and communities, while retaining valuable employers, creating new jobs and business opportunities. I am confident this proposal will create a win-win solution for industry, environmentalists and California consumers," he said.

Trainer said ISPA applauded Correa "for his efforts in recognizing that an efficient industry and consumer-friendly mattress recycling program is a comprehensive solution. ISPA looks forward to working diligently with Sen. Correa and policymakers on his legislation this year."

California almost passed a mattress recycling measure last year that would have imposed significant burdens on the mattress industry, ISPA officials said.