Image via Bye Bye Mattress Facebook page

To celebrate America Recycles Day, the Mattress Recycling Council (MRC) and the Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission’s Local Conservation Corps (LCC) hosted a media event Tuesday at the LCC facility on California Avenue in Southwest Fresno.

Local media and waste management representatives were invited for a tour of LCC’s recycling facility and to celebrate success of its training programs, a nationwide mattress recycling program and Mayor Jerry Dyer’s Beautify Fresno initiative.

The MRC is a nonprofit organization that operates recycling programs in states that have passed mattress recycling laws, including California, Connecticut and Rhode Island.

In the past three months, 630 mattresses have been brought for recycling at the LCC facility in Fresno.

“We see these materials being deposited not just in alleyways and vacant lots and fields in Fresno, but on streets, parks and neighborhoods,” said Mark Standriff, director of Beautify Fresno. “We have a coordinated delivery of existing city resources to help eliminate trash, blight and graffiti — and create community-based, clean-up events.”

The LCC has operated a recycling program sponsored by CalRecyle for the last 30 years, providing local young adults age 18 to 26 opportunities for personal and professional development.

 

Shawn Riggins, director of the Fresno LCC, said that the program is aimed at youth with issues such as not having a high school diploma or being close to homelessness.

“Through training, these members receive the support they need to overcome these barriers, but also gain experience through vocational training, including recycling, construction, solar and work on public lands,” Riggins said.

Riggins said a classroom and training facility on the grounds is about one month away from completion. It will house classes for LCC students.

Since 2020, when LCC first became involved with the Bye Bye Mattress program, about 1,423 mattresses have been diverted from landfills, representing more than 78,000 pounds of materials including wood, steel, fiber and foam, Riggins said.

Jennifer Duran, Central California program coordinator for the MRC, said there are 10 locations in Fresno County where mattresses can be recycled for free, with six within the city.

Mattresses are bulky and hard to compress in landfills, but 75% or more of a mattress can be recycled for other uses including construction rebar, carpet padding, insulation and more, according to a MRC fact sheet.

“Our goal is to redirect valuable material from the waste stream so it can be repurposed and made into other products,” Duran said.