Mattress ·

How to Dispose or Upcycle a Mattress in Australia

How to Dispose or Upcycle a Mattress in Australia

It is common knowledge that a high-quality mattress is an important investment to maintain proper sleep hygiene, an ache-free body, and good health. This is why consumers are regularly replacing their old mattresses with new ones, giving them either to recycling facilities or upcycling them into home decor. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of sleepers try to reduce their waste. The consumer behaviour of the majority is quite different.

Each year in Australia, over a million mattresses end up in a landfill that occupies over a million cubic meters. By recycling or upcycling mattresses, we can turn these waste materials into useful products and at the same time significantly reduce the degradation of our environment.

But how to dispose or upcycle a mattress in Australia? Let’s discover.

What to Do With an Old Mattress and Box Spring?

If your old mattress box spring is still in good condition, the wisest option is to donate it to a local charity, goodwill, homeless shelter, or a thrift store. Another option is to either recycle it or repurpose it by turning it into home decorations - and don’t worry, we’ll give you some ideas in a bit.

How to Dispose or Upcycle an Old Mattress in Australia

throw away mattresses

Luckily, Australia is a place where numerous social enterprises offer mattress recycling services. So, if you want to get rid of an old mattress, finding a recycling program is the best way to do so.

Find an Environmentally-Friendly Recycling Mattresses Program 

Soft Landing is a national social enterprise that offers bed base, topper, and mattress recycling services. Driven by their ever-growing mission to protect our environment, they strive to keep waste out of landfills while putting the foam to good use. This is why they recycle toppers and mattresses into carpet underlay and send bed bases to the local industry for mulch. The best part about their program is that they employ methods that have a low carbon footprint, as they never ship waste overseas and they use recycling methods that don’t waste much power.

SUEZ is another social program that strives to shape a sustainable environment by providing the same services as Soft Landing. The only difference is that while Soft Landin mainly operates in New South Wales, Western Australia, Victoria, and Australia Capital Territory, SUEZ focuses mainly on Sydney and New South Wales areas.

How to Get Rid of a Mattress for Free

What you should know though is that although it’s a fast way to dispose of your mattress, contacting your local council for a pick-up might come with a disposal fee. In case you don’t want to pay anything, however, you can always transport the mattress to the closest recycling center by yourself.

Upcycle Your Old Mattress Into Home Décor

While your old mattress can no longer serve its original purpose, there are numerous ways to reuse it and design unique, authentic products.

Wine Rack 

Your bed springs can be easily turned into a sturdy wine rack that will add an authentic decorative touch to your home. Remove the springs from your mattress and attach them to a stylish piece of wood.

Animal Bedding

Who said dozing off on a well-designed mattress is only for people? Decide on a size for your new animal mattress and cut across your old mattress cover using scissors. By following the same line, cut through the mattress itself while separating the exact piece you need. As your mattress will show raw edges, you will want to sew them by attaching a strip of fabric. Sounds easy? Go find the perfect spot where you can make a mess and design the ideal bed for your dog. 

Planter

A worn-out mattress is a wonderful thing as it allows you to turn it into an artistic and vivid garden. The magic happens the moment you pull away all the fabric that hides the coil springs inside your mattress. Set the inner frame on a wall and fill the gaps with nice flower pots. 

Spring Vase

Embellish your home by designing a spring vase from a mattress spring. Take the mattress apart to get the spring coils and separate them from each other to make a vintage spring bud vase.

Christmas Décor

Another way to upcycle your mattress is by turning it into house Christmas ornaments. From making a Christmas tree to a cute little snowman, there’s hardly anything you can’t design from a mattress to make your home a happier place. 

Conclusion

If you are thinking about buying a new mattress, try recycling or upcycling the old one. For instance, instead of buying expensive decorations for your home, there are so many creative ways to repurpose your old bed such as designing animal bedding, wine racks, or even planters. If you do this, you will be contributing to a greener Australia, as materials from waste mattresses are re-used and diverted from landfills. 

Want to learn more about recycling? Read our article on how to upcycle or dispose of a mattress topper in Australia. 

FAQ

Why is the mattress recycling process important?

With recycling, these large waste items can be diverted from landfills into a number of useful products.

Where does Soft Landing offer collection and mattress pickup?

Soft Landing offers these services in WA, ACT, NSW, and Victoria.

Sources

Back to Snooze