London gets mattress recycling boost

Image shows Rhondda Cynon Taf’s dedicated mattress recycling facility.

Funding of around £140,000 has been awarded to two recycling organisations to boost the reuse and recycling of mattresses and bedding in London.

The London Waste and Recycling Board (LWARB) has today (30 June) announced grants to London Reuse Limited to fund the introduction of a mattress recycling facility in Greenford, West London, as well as to London Community Resource Network for a project to increase the recycling and reuse of bulky bedding material such as duvets, pillows and quilts.

It is anticipated that once fully operational the mattress recycling facility will divert over 60,000 mattresses every year from landfill or incineration and provide six jobs. The bedding material project is expected to divert at least 150 tonnes of material from landfill per annum.

The funding is part of LWARB’s ‘Textile Reuse and Recycling Fund’, which aims to create solutions to increase the reuse and recycling of textiles such as clothing, carpets and mattresses in London. 

LWARB Efficiencies Committee Chair and LWARB Board Member Clyde Loakes said: “Around 700,000 mattresses are discarded in London every year with limited options for dealing with them other than landfill or incineration. This much needed mattress recycling facility will enable 90 per cent of the mattresses at the site to be recycled. As well as reducing the burden on the capital’s landfill sites, increasing recycling will also help to grow London’s economy by creating jobs, volunteering and training opportunities and reduce costs to local authorities.”

LWARB launched the Textile Reuse and Recycling Fund for members of the London Textile Forum last year. In the previous round of funding in February, it supported six projects ranging the introduction of carpet recycling at local household waste and recycling sites and a kerbside collection service that allows clothing to be recycled alongside other recyclable goods in wheeled bins or boxes.

LWARB has awarded funding to the following two organisations:

·        London Reuse Limited – development of a mattress recycling facility in Greenford West London in partnership with The Furniture Recycling Company, Furniture Recycling Group and Furnish.  The textile coverings and metal from the springs will be recycled into new products in the UK;

·        London Community Resource Network – the project will work with the textile bring bank and reprocessing sector to identify and develop new and existing outlets to increase the recycling and reuse of bulky bedding material such as pillows, duvets, quilts, sleeping bags and other similar material.

Find out more about LWARB.