When moving house or upgrading your furniture, mattresses are a huge investment purchase. These days, you can buy mattresses tailored to your age, how you sleep and your favoured firmness, but this means that they come with a cost. Because of this, we should all be making a conscious effort to make sure we dispose of our mattresses properly, recycling where possible, and helping to limit the amount that ends up in landfill.
It’s been recorded that over 7 million mattresses are thrown away every year in the UK, costing local councils £20 million to recycle and collect from flytipping.
Fletchers Waste Management, who receive mattresses in their skip hire Sheffield, are on a mission to make sure people are aware of how they can reduce mattress waste and increase the UK’s mattress recycling rate with these top tips:
- Sell your mattress online
When you are ready to part with your mattress, it may seem like an easy option to simply throw it away, but thanks to things like mattress toppers, most mattresses will still have plenty of life left in them. If it is still in good condition, there are lots of people who would like to buy a mattress second hand because it can be very expensive to buy brand new. Social media sites like Facebook now have a marketplace where you can advertise your mattress in your local area, as well as apps such as Vinted and eBay.
- Find a charity that accepts mattresses
As long as your mattress is still in good condition and is clean, you can donate your mattress to local charities. Many organisations in the UK, such as the British Heart Foundation will even collect the mattress from your home to save you from having to transport it yourself. This is a great environmentally friendly option for disposing of your mattress, as well as knowing you’re donating to a good cause.
- Go back to where you bought it
Due to the Extended Producer Responsibility, many stores will now offer a take back scheme. This means if you buy from the same retailer, they may take your old mattress from you and offer you a discount on your new purchase from their store. If this is not available from your previous retailer, consider buying your new mattress from a shop that will offer this scheme when you’re ready to buy again in the future.
- Take your mattress to a recycling centre
Sometimes your mattress may not be in a condition where you can either sell it or donate it to a charity, but you can still take it to a responsible recycling centre to be properly disposed of. However, the materials in a mattress are sometimes difficult to separate for recycling, so not every waste management company or recycling centre will let you bring one to them. Because of this, it’s best to contact them first to check, some centres may even collect the mattress from you if you are unable to transport it yourself. You can find your nearest recycling centre on the Government website.
- Waste services you can hire for mattress removal
If you’re struggling to dispose of your mattress or do not have a vehicle that you can transport it with, there are other waste management services that you could hire to help. Many local waste management companies offer a man with a van waste collection service. This is when the company will arrange for their man and van to come to your property and take the mattress away for you. They will do the heavy lifting as well as ensure it is recycled responsibly. This is especially useful if you’re wanting to get rid of other household waste at the same time and do not want to do the lifting yourself, you can’t get to the tip or you do not have space for a skip on your drive. If you are completing a home renovation and have an accumulation of other waste from your home, you may benefit from hiring a skip. Sizes usually start from a 4-yard and you can fill it up as you go along. The skip will also be dropped off and picked up on a date that suits you, which is handy to arrange around your clearout. Fast Skips offer nationwide skip hire and man with a van service and will be able to advise you on the best skip for mattresses.
