Duluth’s Mattress recycling program
The mattress recycling program being carried out in Duluth is doing quite well. It is the only program, one of two in the country, that takes apart the components of the mattress which should eventually be re-used as something else. It brings in money for the town, too.
The foam is sent to Wisconsin, where it will serve as material for carpet underlay. Wooden frames from the mattresses become fuel for the paper mill while the cotton are sent to locomotive companies to use for their oil filters. The only thing they haven’t no use for so far? The fiber layer called or shoddy.
“One of the challenges that we’ve seen there is the steel springs - that they’re not compressible,” Hagen said. “We’ve looked at shredding the springs, but that’s cost prohibitive.”
Right now Goodwill just gives the springs to an auto recycler, which chews them up with the old cars. But that doesn’t return any money to the mattress project.
Via MPR
Tags: auto recycler, Duluth, locomotive, material, mattress, mattresses, Program, steel springs, Wisconsin, wooden frames
Loading ...
