With more than 50,000 mattresses ending up in landfills every year, Rhode Island is hoping to make sure yours isn鈥檛 among them. The Ocean State is only the third state in the country to adopt the 鈥淏ye Bye Mattress鈥� recycling program.
Anyone who bought a mattress in Rhode Island since Sunday, May 1, may have noticed an extra recycling fee 鈥� $10 鈥� tacked on the invoice. It stems from a 2013 law designed to keep old mattresses out of landfills and off city streets.
The program was spotlighted at an event Tuesday morning at the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation landfill and recycling center in Johnston. 鈥淣ot only will this program divert mattresses from the landfill, but it will also help curb the illegal dumping that occurs in many communities throughout the state,鈥� said state Senate majority leader Dominick Ruggerio.
The nonprofit Mattress Recycling Council, based in Virginia, was created for the sole purpose of recycling mattresses. Now, they鈥檙e administering the program in Rhode Island.
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