Aug 6 - Industry Leaders Stand Behind Mattress Recycling Bill
Members of the mattress manufacturing industry are stepping up to show support for recycling. Eric Slagle, president of Slagle's Mattress Factory Inc., went on the record in support of SB 254 (Hancock and Correa) a bill that would require the industry to develop and implement a statewide mattress recycling program similar to existing programs for paint and carpet.
His OpEd appeared in The Bakersfield Californian:
I have been in the business of making quality mattress for more than 25 years in Bakersfield. We are a family owned and operated business with deep ties to our community. And that is why we understand we must also be engaged in the process of what happens to our mattresses once they have served their intended purpose. At the end of their life cycle, millions of used mattresses are discarded each year across the United States, ending up in landfills where they can take up 23 cubic feet of space each. Mattresses both place a tremendous strain on our landfills and contribute to community blight when they are illegally dumped in our neighborhoods or along our highways.
Slagle pointed to several key elements of the bill: incentivizing mattress recycling for consumers, making recycling more efficient, utilizing a market-based approach, ending illegal dumping, conserving resources and creating jobs.
CAW supports SB 254, which had bipartisan support as it passed off the Senate Floor in May. It will be heard in Assembly Natural Resources on Monday, Aug. 12.
You can find the ANR agenda and watch the hearing online here.
Photo: workers take a used mattress to be recycled.
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