Recycling message for old mattresses
27/10/2008
Even top quality mattresses cannot last forever and one source suggests people should recycle them once they are finished with.
Planet Green, a website dedicated to providing advice on living in an environmentally gentle way, notes most mattresses are discarded after around eight years.
It flags up the work of the DR3 Mattress Recycling facility, which it notes is one of just four places in the world where these items can be recycled.
"The break down at DR3 takes less than ten minutes but a mattress left in a landfill can take decades to decompose," the firm explains.
Dr3 takes mattresses apart and then reuses or recycles each component part.
The charity Recycling Lives, which helps homeless and unemployed people by providing them with care and waste management skills, urges people to recycle bedding.
It notes that all textiles can be reused or, if they are in poor condition, recycled and turned into rags.
