Recycling Mattresses: How We Ensure Sustainability Start to Finish

In a previous blog post, we wrote about how we consider environmental impact when selecting the materials for our mattresses. But true sustainability is not just about where the materials come from - it’s about where they go when we’re finished with them.

Most mattresses meet a tragic, unsustainable end - disposed of at a local landfill, or worse, incinerated! But it doesn’t have to be that way. Today we’re telling the ominous story of what happens to used mattresses - and how we’re working to change their fates. 

Mattress Disposal: A Waste Issue

Currently, the disposal of old mattresses has a huge impact on city landfills because they are large, take decades to decompose, and cannot be compressed or compacted. Another common way to dispose of them is incineration, which is equally harmful to the environment (and on incineration equipment, due to the metal springs).
In Canada alone, we throw out 6 million mattresses a year, and with each taking up to 40 cubic metres of landfill space, that’s a big problem! But a typical mattress is made up of 95% recyclable material, meaning that most of it can be saved from the landfill and turned into something useful, with a little effort.

What We're Doing

When we deliver your new mattress, we pick-up and recycle your old one if you no longer plan to use it. To ensure that your mattress is properly recycled, we take it to a great local business called Re-Matt.

A Calgary-based mattress recycling company - and the first and only of it’s kind in Alberta - Re-Matt breaks down old mattresses and boxsprings into raw materials - primarily wood, steel, foam, and cotton. These raw materials are then used to produce new items, some of which they also sell in-store - such as felt moving pads, quilt batting and kindling bundles for firewood. Not a bad second chance for an old bed...

What Can You Do?

When you get your Black Sheep Mattress delivered to your home, we are happy to take your old mattress to Re-Matt for you for free, so without any hassle, you’re already doing your part.

Other ways you can help:

• Bring all your unwanted mattresses to Re-Matt - they charge only $15 per mattress if you drop them off yourself, a small price for a worthy cause. 
• Support Re-Matt by purchasing their recycled mattress products like kindling, moving blankets and more. 
• Choose quality furniture that’s built to last over cheaper furniture that will need to be replaced in a few years. And of course, opt for second-hand or recycled items when possible. 

Thanks to the folks at Re-Matt for these helpful mattress facts!