'If there's bed bugs or something looks really gnarly, we wouldn't expect our staff to handle unhealthy objects'

Two years after a group of pre-teen girls persuaded North Bay City Council that household mattresses are recyclable, the City of Sault Ste. Marie is considering introducing a similar program.

"They researched and came up with a pretty viable proposal," said Susan Hamilton-Beach, director of public works, speaking at a Tuesday meeting of the Sault's municipal green committee.

Hamilton-Beach was referring to the Frozen Royals, an all-girls robotics team from North Bay's Sunset Park School whose dream for Ontario-wide mattress recycling appears to be moving slowly toward reality.

The girls, aged nine to 12, researched mattresses as part of Trash Trek, a robotics project in which they were asked to develop an alternative way of handling a waste item.

They told North Bay councillors that so many mattresses were going into North Bay's landfill that they would reach up to the CN Tower's restaurant if stacked one on top of the other.

North Bay launched its bed recycling program last May, accepting any mattress or box spring, regardless of size, upon payment of a $20 processing free at its Merrick Landfill.

"It's a real positive story there," said Hamilton-Beach. "The student body feels they've had an impact on council and on recycling in their community."

North Bay ships its no-longer-wanted mattresses to Ontario Mattress Recycling, which opened last year in Barrie, Ontario.

There, mattresses are taken apart, their materials sorted and processed so they can be converted into other products.

"There's no handling of the actual mattress. They go in a mattress bag. They get piled up. They get put in a trailer," said Madison Zuppa, Sault Ste. Marie's environmental initiatives coordinator.

Ontario Mattress Recycling is one of several companies that accept beds for recycling, Zuppa said.

If Sault Ste. Marie decides to go ahead with mattress recycling, city workers would not be required to handle every mattress received for recycling.

"If there's bed bugs or something looks really gnarly, we wouldn't expect our staff to handle unhealthy objects," Zuppa said.

City staff will investigate the recycling idea further and look into possible collaborations with mattress manufacturers or retailers.

Any resulting recommendations will be forwarded to Sault Ste. Marie City Council.