Time: 11:00 – 12:30 EST
Location: Zoom (register below)
More than 50,000 mattresses are discarded each day in the U.S. Much of this bulky, cumbersome waste ends up in the nation’s landfills and imposes significant costs on local governments for its management. Less than five percent of mattresses are recycled annually, despite the fact that up to 90 percent of mattress components are recyclable.
Reusing, renovating, and recycling, rather than landfilling, unwanted mattresses can reduce reliance on disposal, recover valuable materials to make other products (including steel, carpet pad, animal bedding, mulch, new textiles, and fibers), create jobs, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws for mattresses have the capacity to spur substantial increases in recycling rates and reduce illegal dumping, particularly when legislation includes performance goals and/or collection site convenience metrics. In 2013, Connecticut became the first state in the country to enact a mattress EPR law, followed by California and Rhode Island that same year. Last year, Oregon enacted the first U.S. EPR mattress law in almost a decade, building on the existing three laws.
What have we learned that can help these and future programs achieve the greatest impact? During this free webinar, we’ll hear from a range of stakeholders and discuss successes and lessons learned from the existing U.S. mattress EPR laws and programs, updates on the new Oregon mattress EPR law, and emerging policy and best practices in mattress stewardship. Join us!
This webinar is open to the entire PSI community; however, the recording will be accessible only to PSI’s Members and Partners.
Scott Klag
(Former), OR Metro
Doug Kobold
CA Product Stewardship Council
Terry McDonald
St. Vincent de Paul
Tom Metzner
CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
Mike O’Donnell
Mattress Recycling Council
Suna Bayrakal
Director, Policy and Programs, Product Stewardship Institute