What do our labels mean?
UNGC Participant
The Australian Bedding Stewardship Scheme is an industry initiative to reduce the number of end of life mattresses going into landfill. It provides a transparent, customer orientated recycling network in partnership with accredited social enterprises that assist people who are experiencing disadvantage to enter the workforce. It takes a life cycle approach to sustainability by ensuring that mattresses are designed and manufactured to minimise material use and maximise the responsible recovery of materials at end of life. Approximately 1.8 million mattresses are disposed of each year. Placed end-to-end they would stretch from Darwin to the tip of Tasmania. Many of them end up in landfill and some even on our streets. We’re working on solutions that make recycling easy for consumers, so they can share the responsibility for their used mattress. We work with supply chain and manufacturers to utilise inputs that work towards a circular economy for mattresses and bedding. We engage with retailers to drive appropriate recycling of mattresses being replaced by new purchases. We work with mattress recyclers to maximise diversion outcomes, research new recycling opportunities and support sustainable jobs.
About Australian Bedding Stewardship Council
- Status
- Website
- Visit Website
- Employees
- 1 - 5
- Industry
- Non-profit
- Country
- Australia
- Founded
- 2016
Australian Bedding Stewardship Council Sustainability Actions
Australian Bedding Stewardship Council Sustainability Commitments
2024
Reduction of mattresses and their recovered materials ending up in landfill
The ABSC is committed to reducing the number of mattresses and their component materials from ending up in landfill through innovation. We hope to identify other uses for those materials recovered to give them a new life at their highest value. We will support recyclers that operate ethically and responsibly and build a national network to provide consumers, industry and councils with options to avoid landfill and discourage dumping.
2024
Address product design for a more circular approach
The ABSC plans to kick off projects in this calendar year to evaluate where traditional mattress design principles can be reviewed and improved in terms of recyclability, longevity and circularity
2024
Social use and reuse
The industry is experiencing an increase in the offer of comfort returns to consumers and recyclers are seeing an increase in mattresses being presented for recycling that are not at their end of life. During 2024, the ABSC plans to kick off a project to work on a set of processes to create standards around the treatment of comfort returns and used mattresses to ensure the health of those receiving and using secondhand mattresses.
Evidence