Campaigners are calling on the government to do more to discourage the illegal dumping of mattresses across the UK
Millions of mattresses are discarded each year with experts claiming that increased recycling costs is making the problem worse.
Now experts from Winstons Beds are calling for tougher penalties and a subsidised nationwide recycling scheme to tackle the problem from both sides.
They claim that mattresses account for 13% of all the UK’s illegal dumping with many fly tipped illegally on road verges and other sites.
The National Bed Federation (NBF), a representative of the UK bed industry, underscores the alarming fact that annually, 4.75 million mattresses are either discarded in landfills or incinerated.
It’s believed this figure could be even higher as many local authorities and bed retailers have increased the fees they charge to dispose of mattresses in the past year.
Now Winstons Beds is calling on ministers to take a two pronged approach to the problem.
The retailer wants to see tougher penalties, such as significant fines, for those found dumping mattresses illegally.
But they also want the government to introduce a subsidised nationwide recycling scheme, accessed through local authorities, so that everyone can call for their council to come and collect their old mattress for free and dispose of it properly.
A spokesperson for Winstons Beds said: “The illegal dumping of mattresses is a serious problem across the UK. You don’t have to travel very far in any of our cities or towns before you encounter a dumped mattress by the roadside.
“Sadly it’s a similar picture in the countryside with mattresses littering country lanes and byways throughout the land.
“Mattress dumping is a much greater problem now than ever before and little wonder. These items don’t last forever, even a high quality mattress should be replaced every few years, and they can be difficult items to dispose of without help.
“But over the past few years we have seen cash strapped councils increasing charges when it comes to taking mattresses away and, at the same time, bed retailers also charging more to collect unwanted mattresses when new ones are ordered.
“Combined with a perceived lack of consequence when it comes to fly tipping and you have a perfect storm with the result being thousands of mattresses being dumped on roadsides and waste ground throughout Britain.
“We are saying to the government, enough is enough, something needs to be done and it needs to happen now.
“We’d like to see new legislation with real teeth to prosecute anyone found dumping a mattress. There should be a very high fine of at least £1,000 and possibly even jail time for repeat offenders.
“But we also need to see the introduction of a nationwide scheme paid for by the government so that anyone with an unwanted mattress can phone their local council and arrange collection at no charge.
“The council could then ensure the item is disposed of properly and in an environmentally appropriate manner.
“Unless these measures are introduced very soon the problem of illegally flytipped mattresses is sadly only going to get worse.”
