(Editor’s note: The International Sleep Products Association sent the following Advocacy Connection Alert to its members on June 13. ISPA opposes state-by-state solutions to the problem of used mattress disposal and favors a national solution. ISPA has proposed federal legislation, the Used Mattress Recycling Act, to help create a national program for recycling used mattress materials that would be an efficient, industry-led solution to mattress disposal. For more information on ISPA’s advocacy efforts on recycling, check www.sleepproducts.org.)
The International Sleep Products Association has defeated several bills in Rhode Island that would have required the mattress industry to develop and operate an extended producer responsibility program for discarded mattresses. An EPR program requires manufacturers to fund and operate a system for collecting and disposing of their products at the end of their useful lives. The Rhode Island legislation would have required the mattress industry to establish such a system specifically for mattresses discarded in Rhode Island and to shoulder all associated costs.
ISPA testified in opposition to the various used mattress EPR bills in Rhode Island and worked with manufacturing and retail groups in the state to lobby against the legislation. ISPA supports the responsible recycling of used mattress materials, but the state-level approach taken in the Rhode Island bills would have imposed unreasonable costs and logistical burdens on the industry. The state’s legislature adjourned June 13 without voting on any of these bills.
Thank you to all ISPA members and others for your hard work and support.
