Pilot project to keep mattresses out of the landfill

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/03/2019 (2727 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

I was excited to launch a new City of Winnipeg mattress recycling pilot project in partnership with Mother Earth Recycling.

Winnipeg residents can drop off a combination of up to six mattresses and box springs in acceptable condition at the Brady Road 4R Depot for free. The City will be contributing $193,000 toward this pilot project, which runs until January 31, 2020, or until 8,000 mattresses and box springs have been collected.  

As chair of the standing policy committee on water and waste, riverbank management and the environment, we are grateful to find a partner in Mother Earth Recycling that will help us pilot this program, and do so in a way that provides meaningful employment and training opportunities in the Indigenous community.

Each mattress and box spring will be taken to Mother Earth Recycling, a Winnipeg-based Indigenous social enterprise, where all the fabric, foam, metal and wood will be separated so they can be recycled into new products. It is estimated that 97 percent of the material can be recycled.

“This project benefits the environment and creates social and economic prosperity for our community,” said Jessica Floresco, general manager, Mother Earth Recycling.  The facility provides jobs and training opportunities to members of the Indigenous community who face multiple barriers to the workforce.  

 By recycling up to 8,000 mattresses and box springs over the next year, we’ll be diverting materials that take up a lot of room at the landfill and removing potential fire hazards from our back lanes.  

Waste diversion is a critical part of the City’s efforts to ease the impacts of climate change and extend the life of the Brady Road Facility. This project will help reduce city carbon emissions by almost 90 tonnes — that is like planting 300 trees or taking 32 cars off the road for a year.

Mattresses and box springs that are wet, soiled, mouldy, burnt, or infested with bed bugs are not accepted. For more information visit winnipeg.ca 

Thanks to Jessica Floresco and her team at Mother Earth Recycling and the Water and Waste Department for putting this pilot project together. This is great news for Winnipeggers and for our environment.  

Cindy Gilroy
Daniel McIntyre ward report

Cindy Gilroy is the city councillor for Daniel McIntyre.

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