Although untidy, the used mattresses strewn in front of the Capitol earlier this month sent a rather neat message: It’s time to put a tired old eyesore to bed.
The California Apartment Association, lawmakers and other stakeholders spoke in support of Senate Bill 254, which targets abandoned mattresses left in vacated apartments, dumped on the side of the road or other places that beds don’t belong.
Today, renters without access to a pickup truck may be inclined to leave a mattress behind. With SB 254, someone else will pick up the mattress and put its materials to good use.
SB 254, now on the governor’s desk, would create a nonprofit mattress-recycling organization to make sure discarded mattresses are collected, dismantled and recycled for new products.
Debra Carlton, senior vice president of public affairs for the California Apartment Association, said the bill provides a free and convenient way for a renter to get rid of a mattress before moving.
A tenant who takes advantage of the bill can get back more of his or her security deposit since the cost of disposal isn’t left with the landlord, Carlton said.
Today, renters without access to a pickup truck may be inclined to leave a mattress behind. With SB 254, someone else will pick up the mattress and put its materials to good use.
“Renters win, rental property owners win, and most importantly, our communities win,” Carlton said.
The SB 254 model is similar to existing, successful recycling systems in California for paint and used carpet, and is similar to other used-mattress recycling legislation signed into law in Rhode Island and Connecticut earlier this year.
Among those at the press conference were Californians for Mattress Recycling, state Sens. Loni Hancock D- Berkeley and Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana; Mark Murray from Californians Against Waste; and Ryan Trainer, president of the International Sleep Products Association.
The program would be funded through a nominal fee on the sale of new mattresses and box-springs. The fee would go to the organization that runs the mattress-recycling program – not into government coffers.