Why Mattress Recycling Matters

Each year, over a million mattresses reach the end of their life in Australia. Without proper recycling solutions, they take up massive amounts of landfill space, contribute to environmental damage, and waste valuable materials that could be repurposed.

The Australian Bedding Stewardship Council (ABSC) is working to change this by supporting a national network of recyclers and driving innovation in mattress waste solutions. However, recycling is complex—it’s costly, labor-intensive, and requires strong industry collaboration to create viable markets for recovered materials.

The ABSC Waste Hierarchy

Product stewardship is about more than just recycling—it’s about rethinking the entire lifecycle of bedding products to minimise waste. The ABSC Waste Hierarchy encourages industry to:

Rethink

Challenge traditional practices and explore new ways to make bedding more sustainable.

Redesign

Improve product design by using materials that enhance durability and recyclability.

Reuse

Extend the lifespan of bedding through repair, refurbishment, or repurposing.

Recycle

Recover materials at end-of-life and reintegrate them into new products.

Did You Know?

Mattresses can take up to 28 to 70 cubic feet in landfill, enough to fill a small room!

A standard queen-size mattress takes up approximately 28 cubic feet in landfill, with larger sizes occupying even more space. With over a million mattresses discarded annually in Australia, this results in massive landfill congestion. Unlike compactable waste, mattresses retain their shape, making them inefficient to bury and difficult to manage. Recycling mattresses not only conserves landfill space but also recovers valuable materials, reducing environmental impact and promoting a circular economy.

How Mattress Recycling Works

Recycling a mattress is not as simple as tossing it into a machine—it involves careful dismantling, sorting, and material recovery. There are two main types of mattress recycling in Australia:

1. Physical Dismantling

(Preferred Method)

How it works:

Mattresses are manually taken apart by trained workers.
Materials such as steel, foam, fabric, and timber are separated and sent for reuse.
Mattresses are manually taken apart by trained workers.

Challenges:

Labour-intensive and expensive
Some materials have no viable recycling market

2. Mechanical Shredding

(Alternative Method)

How it works:

Mattresses are fed into large shredders that break them into small pieces.
Steel is recovered, but other materials are mixed together and often end up as landfill.

Challenges:

Produces shredded textile waste (floc), which currently has limited reuse applications
High energy consumption

Driving Change: The Future of Mattress Recycling

By supporting new applications for shredded textiles, advancing foam reuse, and exploring waste-to-energy alternatives, ABSC is finding sustainable solutions for mattress materials that would otherwise end up in landfill. But real change requires collaboration across the entire supply chain:

The biggest challenge to achieving 100% mattress recycling is the lack of viable markets for recovered materials. To overcome this, ABSC is actively investing in research and innovation while working with industry, government, and consumers to create a circular economy for bedding.

Retailers & Manufacturers

Design products with recyclability in mind and support sustainable disposal options.

Consumers

Choose ABSC-approved recyclers and help prevent illegal mattress dumping.

Councils & Governments

Improve waste collection strategies to keep mattresses out of landfills.

What next?

ABSC remains committed to expanding sustainable mattress recycling solutions—but lasting change requires industry-wide participation.

Need to recycle your mattress? Find a Recycler
Become an approved recycler. Join the ABSC Recycling Network
Learn how ABSC is driving innovation. Check out our projects

Ready to Get Involved?