The Hills. Saved from landfill

Some 1262 mattresses were saved from landfill, over a three-month period, as part of The Hills Shire Council’s highly successful trial mattress recycling program. About 180 were sent to charities for reuse and 1082 other mattresses were taken apart so that the individual components could be recycled. “Recycling these mattresses has enabled us to save valuable resources. For example, coil springs can be melted down and sold to manufacturers, and foam can be used to make carpet underlay as well as saving valuable landfill space,” said Shaun Hunt, council’s waste management education officer.