Did you know that Houston Furniture Bank (HFB) recycles mattresses?

During the month of May, the HFB Mattress Recycling Center received 2,060 mattresses.  1,414 of those mattresses were recycled, which resulted in 32,522 cubic feet of trash NOT ending up in the landfill. But that’s just a drop in a very large bucket – it is estimated that approximately 750,000 mattresses are discarded into Houston-area landfills annually.

How it all started

The HFB Mattress Recycling Center story began in 2013, when HFB was selected by St. Vincent de Paul Society of Lane County in Eugene, Oregon to become one of only three entities in the nation to be trained in a leading-edge mattress-recycling effort funded through a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Now, HFB is one of the few places in the country where mattresses can be recycled. Used mattresses and their components are sorted, baled, and resold.

Partnership with the City of Houston

HFB also entered a partnership with the City of Houston Solid Waste Management Department in 2013 for a pilot program to collect mattresses for recycling at Neighborhood Depository and Recycling Centers. This collaboration continues today, with 100% of mattresses dropped off at the city’s designated recycling centers being delivered to the HFB Mattress Recycling Center for processing & recycling. This keeps 23 cubic feet of materials from the landfill for every mattress recycled.

Mattress Recycling Program’s Progress

The recycling efforts at the HFB Mattress Recycling Center have increased from an average of approximately 600 a month just a year ago, when the new facility at 8220 Mosley Rd. was unveiled, to more than 1,400 last month alone. With new partnerships with local retailers and manufacturers such as Mattress Firm and Serta Simmons Bedding, HFB is expecting the number of recycled mattresses to continue to increase every month.

Anyone can drop off a mattress or mattresses at HFB for recycling. It’s $10 per piece if dropped off or $25 per piece if picked up. Visit our mattress recycling page for more info on how you can recycle your mattress.