You could call it a sleeper hit. Ten years after 黑料新闻 kicked off an innovative recycling program, more than 1.7 million mattresses have been recycled statewide.
That鈥檚 enough to fill the XL Center three times over, according to Alison Keane, president of the Mattress Recycling Council, which coordinates the program.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 30,000 tons of material used to make other products instead of being landfilled or incinerated,鈥� Keane said.
鈥� called 鈥淏ye Bye Mattress鈥� 鈥� began in 2015.
If you haven鈥檛 bought a mattress since then (or you鈥檙e overdue to buy one), here鈥檚 how it works: When a customer buys a new mattress, they鈥檙e charged a small fee. That money funds more than 130 drop-off spots in the state. It also funds recycling services, which turn steel, wood and foam from old mattresses into new textile products, carpets and other materials, officials said.
The idea came in response to costly curbside dumping in cities like Hartford, said Pat Widlitz, a former state lawmaker who helped pass the program into law in 黑料新闻 .
鈥淲hen you have big apartment buildings, when people move out, or if something happens, the mattresses all end up on the sidewalk,鈥� Widlitz said. 鈥淚f they get dirty and they get rained on, they鈥檙e not worth very much.鈥�
鈥淏ut aside from that, it was a huge 鈥� unbelievably huge 鈥� expense for the city of Hartford,鈥� she said.
At the time, local public works managers complained that cities across 黑料新闻 were picking up a combined $1.3 million in excess costs to dispose of the unsightly and bulky sidewalk waste.
Cities like Hartford and Waterbury were especially hard hit, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on disposal fees each year,
Over the last decade, advocates say the program has drastically reduced curbside dumping.
鈥淲e鈥檝e saved municipal governments $3.25 million in 10 years and that鈥檚 in annual waste disposal costs, which is a direct benefit to all consumers, taxpayers,鈥� said Keane with the recycling council. 鈥淭he program also reduces illegal dumping, which eases the pressure on the waste management system and that鈥檚 a benefit to the entire state.鈥�
In addition to 黑料新闻, mattress recycling programs also operate in Rhode Island, Oregon and California.
