Background

An estimated 18 million mattresses with box springs are disposed of in the United States each year, resulting in approximately 50,000 mattresses a day ending up in landfills across America. Some of these mattresses are illegally dumped, adding to landfill waste.

At a minimum, 80% of a mattress can be recycled. The fabric and foam can be turned into carpet underlay, and the felt and cotton can be recycled into new felt and insulation. The wood gets recycled into biofuel or other recycled wood products, while the plastic and steel can be recycled or turned into new products.

Strategy

In keeping with our People and Planet Positive sustainability strategy, IKEA is committed to taking a lead in turning waste into resources. We are committed to securing recycled materials while ensuring key parts of our product range are easily recycled, all contributing to a closed-loop society.

As part of our goal to send zero waste to landfill, we introduced a mattress recycling program in the fall of 2017. By recycling mattresses, we can conserve resources such as steel, foam, and wood that can be used in new products.

Program

Our goal in introducing this program was to recycle all used mattresses within our operations. This includes old mattresses of any brand that are picked up when a new IKEA mattress is delivered, as well as all mattresses that are returned by customers at IKEA stores.

Through the program, all mattresses returned by customers and those removed from displays in IKEA stores are individually bagged, taped, and stored outside our buildings until they are ready to be picked up. The mattresses are transported to recyclers throughout the United States, which are secured by our national waste provider.

In addition, through our mattress removal service, we pick up customers’ used mattresses for a small fee with the purchase of a new IKEA mattress.[1] This service is also occasionally offered for free to members of our customer loyalty program, IKEA FAMILY, at all IKEA locations. After being picked up from customers, these mattresses are transported by our home delivery transport providers to the same mattress recyclers that are contracted for our stores.

The mattresses picked up through our removal service make up a small minority of those recycled, as most come from our internal operations. The majority of the costs required to handle, store, transport, and recycle mattresses are incurred by IKEA.

Stakeholders

Development of the mattress recycling program was a multi-year process that engaged stakeholders throughout the organization, including sales, logistics, facilities, customer service, transport, home delivery, accounting, tax, risk, legal, stores, operations, and sustainability. The core group of functions that played a critical role throughout all phases of planning and implementation were sales, facilities, customer service, stores, transport, and home delivery.

Externally, we worked closely with our national waste vendor to coordinate efforts. We also engaged with several non-governmental organizations, such as the International Sleep Products Association and the Mattress Recycling Council.

Communication

The IKEA mattress recycling program was rolled out in October 2017. Following the announcement, we received positive media coverage, and numerous cities and companies reached out to learn more about the program and how it was implemented. From an industry perspective, we were the first large retailer to introduce mattress recycling nationally.

We also integrated information about the program into our external services communications. We work within strict IKEA guidelines for communicating any message to IKEA customers. Depending on the message we are trying to convey, we know what the correct carrier should be, and in what format and size.