The Mattress Recycling Council (MRC) will host participants throughout the mattress value chain to discuss methods to improve the circularity of future mattress designs. This meeting will be relevant to product designers, component suppliers, mattress manufacturers, and recyclers.

The focus of this industry workgroup meeting is to:

• Bring information from supplier innovations, manufacturing techniques, and recycler challenges back to the mattress design process to reduce environmental impacts across a mattress lifecycle.
• Explore methods to improve circularity in the mattress industry through the integration of recycled content and renewable feedstocks into material selection and fabrication processes.
• Discuss the potential for material labeling and digital traceability to solve multiple challenges across the mattress value chain, from consumer engagement to recycler material sorting.
• Identify opportunities for reducing environmental impacts of packaging throughout production, distribution, and retail operations.

This meeting is the continuation of past discussions about mattress circularity and recycling challenges. MRC’s objective in this meeting is to help mattress component suppliers, product designers, mattress manufacturers, and recyclers to have collaborative discussions and make connections for future product development.

Breakout Session Topics:

1. Design for Disassembly: Explore how design choices can result in easier mattress disassembly and recycling. This session will focus on identifying practical adjustments to product design and assembly that minimize cross-material contamination, reduce manufacturing waste, and maximize recovery of valuable materials at end-of-life.
2. Circular Fabrication Materials: How can innovative materials drive circularity in mattress manufacturing? This session will explore current and emerging options—like recycled content and renewable feedstocks— and identify opportunities for integration into products or processes that reduce environmental impacts and maintain high performance.
3. Material Labeling and Digital Traceability: How can material labeling and digital traceability improve transparency and enable more effective communication across the mattress value chain? This session will explore their potential to address challenges from consumer engagement to recycler material sorting, and identify practical approaches for implementation.
4. Packaging Across the Value Chain: From production to distribution centers to retail operations, where are the greatest opportunities to reduce impacts of packaging? This session invites participants to share and develop strategies like increased durable shipping containers, return shipments, and lightweighting, to improve waste reduction across the value chain and meet emerging regulatory requirements.