New recycling initiatives are being heard by businesses and residents in the Metro Vancouver Area. Canadian Mattress Recycling was forced to rush the opening of their streamlined Metro Vancouver operation to January 2011 in order to handle the increased capacity of mattresses that were being diverted from the landfill.
Until this year, the majority of mattresses from Canada’s 3rd largest census population were being dumped in landfills. In an effort to extend the life of the local landfills, Metro Vancouver finally recognized that all of the materials in mattresses were recyclable and passed a bylaw prohibiting mattresses from the landfills as of January 1, 2011.
“We recognized that there was going to be a drastic need for a professional, licensed, and efficient recycling operator in the Lower Mainland to handle the thousands of mattresses being put in the dump. So we moved up the opening of our facility to fill the void,” says Terryl Plotnikoff, General Manager, “but what we did not expect was that the volume of mattresses and box spring was going to be this great. Not only are we saving our clients, such as retailers and hotels, thousands of dollars per month but we’ve also kept over 220,000 lbs of materials from going into the landfill in just two months.”
Unintended consequence
Plotnikoff said they have discovered another unexpected demand: residential customers. “Because of the twenty dollar charges at the landfills and transfer stations, we’ve seen hundreds of residents wanting to bring their old mattresses and box springs directly to us and save money.”
Canadian Mattress Recycling’s new facility is conveniently located on Annacis Island, Delta. “We wanted to be central, so that we can service all our commercial clients, such as major retailers and hotels,” Plotnikoff explains, “and because of our location, we have seen a steady stream of residential customers as well.”
Providing that extra service
Canadian Mattress Recycling has also fielded many calls from residents wanting a pickup service. “But most of them can’t afford to hire a junk removal company. So we’ve decided to help those residential customers that are not able to deliver their mattresses to us. The demand has been so great that we are now starting weekly residential pick-up programs in Vancouver/Burnaby/Richmond, Surrey/Delta/Langley, the North Shore, and the Tri-Cities area.”
Starting on March 26th, they are going to be providing a Saturday pick-up service to all municipalities. All customers have to do is call or visit their website and book a pickup.
Ultimately, the goal of Canadian Mattress Recycling is to help eliminate all mattresses and box-springs from going into a landfill in Canada. They also know that, with their pick-up service, they will be helping the municipalities and taxpayers by reducing the number of dumped mattresses.
Plotnikoff adds, “We think that our low disposal fee of $12 per mattress or box spring, along with our cheap pick-up charge, will really reduce illegal dumping in the Metro Vancouver area.”
Source: Canadian Mattress Recycling
