In Belgium, nearly one million mattresses are sold each year, the majority of which eventually end up at the RMB recycling plant in Sombreffe.
"In quantity, we must receive 500,000 mattresses per year,” RMB’s Philipe Tychon told RTBF. “This represents 50% of the Belgian market, which will be recycled in order to recover reusable raw materials."
Almost everything from a modern mattress, 90% of the materials used, can be recovered and reused. "The foam of polyurethane mattresses will be used in building insulation," Dimitri Bertholet, manager of the Sombreffe site, told the news outlet. "Latex mattress foam can be used in the manufacture of ergonomic carpets or car headrest padding. The springs will be reused in the metal sector. Only the cover cannot be recycled.”
Mattresses represent about 6,500 tonnes per year of bulky waste collected in recycling parks in Wallonia. In 2021, all of this waste ended up being burned. Faced with these figures, the Belgian authorities took matters into their own hands.
Extended Producer Responsibility
From 2021, the EPR for mattresses, the "Extended Producer Responsibility,” came into effect. This means that the buyer of a new mattress must pay an environmental contribution, the price of which (from €4 to €17) depends on the type and size of the mattress.
This mandatory contribution is used to cover the costs of collecting, treating and dismantling used mattresses and is also used to finance research and development in the eco-design of new mattresses. In return, the consumer no longer has to pay to deposit the old mattress at the container park.
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The introduction of the EPR has led to a significant rise in mattresses being recycled, to the point that the parks now have dedicated spaces that keep them dry in case of bad weather, an important point for their recycling.
Additionally, some bedding stores agree to take back an old mattress with the purchase of a new one, but they are not obliged to do so.
Valumat, the management company that organises the take-back of mattresses, also provides a financial incentive for mattress retailers, paying €550 for a tonne, or €8 for a single mattress.