Regardless of chain scale, mattress replacement is something that all hoteliers need to deal with on a regular basis. The enormity of this project can be extremely overwhelming—especially for owners of larger properties—and once a hotelier decides to replace all of her mattresses, she then has to figure out what she wants to do with the waste.
According to Janet Harrington, COO of Global Sustainability Solutions, LLC, recycling these mattresses is not only better for the environment, it also can save on hoteliers’ bottom lines. “Landfills are taking less and less, and their costs are increasing. It’s becoming cost-prohibitive to dump in landfills, so it’s simply less expensive to recycle,” she explains.
And recycled mattresses can be very useful. They can be turned into:
- Recycled steel for construction, tools, automobiles, etc.
- Recycled cotton for linen papers, oil filters, insulation, mats, or stuffing, or for an oil spill containment cleanup
- Recycled foam for re-bonded carpet padding, pet bedding, etc.
- Recycled synthetic fiber pads can be used for another
mattress or turned into underlayment for automobiles - Recycled wood for tempered flooring, particle board,
dimensional lumber, pelletized wood for biofuel, chipped for mulch, compost, etc. - Recycled cardboard can be corrugated and reused
