Connecticut Moves To Institute Mattress Recycling
HARTFORD, Conn. (CBSNewYork) - A Connecticut lawmaker said that discarded mattresses are a big problem in his state and he is behind a bill requiring that they be recycled, WCBS 880 Bureau Chief Fran Schneidau reported.
WCBS 880 Connecticut Bureau Chief Fran Schneidau On The Story
Podcast
"It's about 10,000 mattresses lying in the streets and parks and woods of Connecticut any day during the year," St. Sen. Ed Meyer (D-Guilford) told Schneidau.
The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said that disposing of these mattresses costs taxpayers $1.2 million a year.
A bill requiring mattress producers to come up with a plan by 2013 for recycling their product passed the State Senate on Wednesday and has moved on to the House.
Meyer, who chairs the environment committee, said the cloth will be re-spun into clothing fabric, the wood will be turned into wood chips, and the springs will be re-used.
He said the mattress industry supports the move.
"The industry really took responsibility here. I negotiated this bill with them," said Meyer.
He told Schneidau that Connecticut would be the first state to establish a mattress recycling program.
"We are a model for the country," he said.
Do you support the move to recycle mattresses? Sound off in the comments section below.
