Ikea has launched a new mattress removal and recycling scheme as it adds to its ongoing efforts to support the circular economy, such as the ‘Re-shop and Re-use’ hub and the BuyBack initiative.
The furniture retailer has partnered with The Furniture Recycling (TFR) Group for its latest sustainability inititiative, which will divert 100% of all mattresses collected by the service from landfill, recycling them into reusable materials and feeding them back into the economy.
After being collected, the mattresses – which do not need to be from Ikea – are deconstructed manually using specialist cutting tools, enabling the materials to be separated into their component parts which are then sanitised for onward processing.
Figures from the National Bed Federation found that around 6.4 million mattresses were disposed of in 2020, with the majority ending up in landfill.
Recycling a mattress also saves 76kgs of CO2 emissions (as compared to incineration), meaning that if the 6.4 million mattresses disposed of in the UK were recycled, over 485 million kgs of CO2 emissions could be saved.
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Ikea sustainability manager Greg Lucas said the scheme will “transform old mattresses that would otherwise go to waste, back into valuable raw materials that can be used again and again”.
“Partnerships like this are crucial to overcoming long-term environmental challenges like mattress waste and advancing our People and Planet Positive journey, while supporting as many customers as possible in living a more sustainable life at home,” Lucas added.
Ikea recently launched a pre-loved car boot sale in Milton Keynes and Cardiff to push circular shopping at its stores.
At the time, Milton Keynes store manager David Manser said: “We want to make the passing on of pre-loved items as easy and enjoyable as possible, and by providing the opportunity for people to resell the items they no longer need, brings benefits to the community, the environment and wallets.”
