FRESNO COUNTY — For this Earth Day on April 22, the Mattress Recycling Council celebrated 10 years of encouraging people across the state to recycle their old mattresses and box springs through the Bye Bye Mattress program.
Since its launch in 2016, the MRC has recycled more than 14 million mattresses in California over the last decade — enough to circle half the globe, according to an announcement from the council. That’s over 555 million pounds of steel, foam, fiber and wood kept out of landfills and put to good use.
In Fresno County, the MRC helped recycle nearly 370,000 mattresses.
“No one wants to see an old mattress illegally dumped or valuable material buried in landfills,” said Mike O’Donnell, MRC’s chief operating officer in a press release. “Over the past 10 years, MRC’s Bye Bye Mattress program has worked alongside local governments, the solid waste community, retailers and many others to make recycling easy for Californians.”
When a mattress is recycled, up to 75% of its materials become new products. As explained in the release, the foam and fibers are incorporated into carpet padding, the innersprings are used in numerous products made from scrap steel and the wood from box springs is chipped for use as mulch or biomass fuel.
As MRC enters its second decade, Californians continue to have several ways to recycle through MRC’s Bye Bye Mattress program. Over 99% of Californians live within 15 miles of a collection site or community collection event, and many cities offer free curbside pickup for bulky items, including mattresses.
Various mattress drop off sites are available to residents at no cost in Fresno County. In Kingsburg, residents can drop off their old mattresses at the Kingsburg Transfer Station at 1535 Ave. 392 from Monday through Friday from the hours of 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
In Parlier, residents can drop off their mattress at the public works yard at 755 Tulare St. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Appointments are preferred; otherwise, the operating hours are from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
In Orange Cove, mattresses can be dropped off at the city’s municipal yard at 802 2nd St. from Monday through Friday from the hours of 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. In Sanger, residents can recycle their mattresses at the city’s corporation yard at 333 North Ave. from Monday through Friday by appointment, from the hours of 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Other drop off sites spanning from Fresno to Coalinga to Firebaugh and Shaver Lake, as well as contact information and drop off limits for each site, can be found at the MRC website byebyemattress.com on the “Fresno County Mattress Recycling” page.
“MRC’s Bye Bye Mattress program has excelled as a model of what can be accomplished when local government and industry work together,” stated the MRC press release.
In addition to these options, mattress shoppers can use their retailer to pick up and recycle their old mattress, according to the release. State law requires any retailer that delivers a new mattress to also offer to pick up an old one at no additional cost. Whether shopping in-store or online, California consumers should ask their retailer about their take-back service.
