September 26, 2017
To our South Shore Legislative delegation:
The South Shore Recycling Cooperative Board respectfully requests that you co-sponsor the upcoming bill establishing a mattress recycling study commission. The bill will be filed by Senator Eileen Donoghue this month, and will be highlighted by a mattress recycling demonstration in the Great Hall on September 28th at 10:30 AM. I encourage you to attend this fun and interesting event.
Mattress disposal is a burden on your constituents and on our municipal solid waste managers because:
· About 600,000 mattresses are discarded annually, but fewer than 5% of these are recycled.
· Mattresses are bulky, so present a management and storage challenge for municipal staff.
· Mattresses take up excessive space at landfills, capacity which is dwindling in Massachusetts.
· Discarding mattresses is costly; residents in SSRC Towns pay $17-35 per mattress, with costs in some towns subsidized by property tax dollars.
Benefits of increasing mattress recycling in the Commonwealth include:
· Cost savings for municipalities. Our South Shore residents and towns spend well over $200,000/year on mattress management. In CT, where mattress recycling is subsidized by the International Sleep Products Association, the mattress manufacturers association, mattress recycling has saved municipalities an estimated $1.6 million annually.
· Recovering valuable materials. Mattresses can be largely recycled into steel, foam, and fiber.
· Stimulating in-state jobs. Along with other businesses, the United Teen Equality Center (UTEC) Lowell, a nonprofit social enterprise dedicated to assisting challenged youth in Lowell, creates jobs for at-risk youth through its mattress recycling program.
The bill does not request funding or inform any policies or regulations. Its intent is to explore the burdens of mattress disposal, and determine the best method for the Commonwealth to drive mattress recycling. In addition to studying existing programs, such as pilot grant programs sponsored by MassDEP, the commission will be tasked with researching how other states fund mattress recycling.
Please contact Edward Hsieh, Executive Director of MASSRECYCLE, at or 617-338-0244, to commit to co-sponsoring the bill and to RSVP for the September 28th event.
Thank you for considering this request.
Sincerely,
Claire L. Galkowski, Executive Director
Abington Cohasset Duxbury Hanover Hanson Hingham Hull Kingston Middleboro Norwell Plymouth Rockland Scituate Weymouth Whitman
Printed on recycled paper
SOUTH SHORE RECYCLING
COOPERATIVE
PO Box 247
Westwood, MA 02090
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