Lockyer Valley Regional Council (LVRC) is the latest organisation to add mattresses to an ambitious recycling trial aimed at recovering precious space in landfill sites across south-east Queensland.
Deputy mayor Jason Cook told ABC Radio Brisbane Mornings presenter Rebecca Levingston the item was "one of the most problematic" sent to the council's transfer stations.
Between 1.6 million and 1.8m mattresses end up in Australian landfill each year.
LVRC is partnering with Ability Enterprises, a not-for-profit social enterprise providing employment opportunities to marginalised people in regional Queensland, to run the mattress recycling component of their program.
"It's an issue just because of the sheer size of them and the space they take up in the landfill," Cr Cook said.
"All the springs and the coils that are metal can be all re-used.
"Those springs that come out are pretty ordinary in the landfill too because of their sharpness and I think it does cause some damage to the machinery used in the landfill.
"We've got to stop putting things into landfill. We've also got to be realistic about how it's done, who's doing it, whether it is feasible and if it's financially viable."
Ability Enterprises chief executive officer Tracey Scanlan said a Toowoomba team processed between 100 and 130 mattresses every week.
"Mattress recycling just makes sense as it's great for the environment, reduces capital expenditure on creation of new landfill sites, and for a social perspective it creates jobs for those needing extra support," she said.
"It's a well-known fact that end-of-life mattresses are a growing problem, not only in Australia but globally."
LVRC residents can take old mattresses to the Laidley Transfer Station but disposal will still incur the standard waste fees during the trial.
Other councils look to scheme
In its 2022 budget, the City of Logan earmarked funds for a new mattress recycling process.
Mayor Darren Power said the scheme would harvest about 10 kilograms of scrap metal from each mattress.
Mattresses would be destroyed off-site.
Moreton Bay Regional Council (MBRC) began a contract with Queensland-based company CDS Recycling to shred old beds and collect steel for recycling.
"They're big, they're bulky and because they're used so much, they often can't be sold on second-hand," MBRC Mayor Peter Flannery said.
"That presents a huge problem for our tips. With all that foam, they can take up much-needed space for other waste, absorb leachate and turn into a fire hazard with oxygen seeping in."
The Noosa Shire, South Burnett Regional and Brisbane City councils also have mattress recycling schemes.
A 'tsunami' of mattresses
Landsborough resident Rob (whose last name has been withheld for privacy) said he worked at Noosa council for less than a year and spent his days "cutting up the tsunami of mattresses" at the region's Doonan landfill.
"There is a big table and you lift it up. You have a Stanley knife in one hand, a pair of pliers in the other, and you start slicing it up, flipping it over, doing it again, pulling it apart," he said.
"We used to bale the foam, put a string it around, and we'd drive it to Rocklea to a place that used it for carpet underlay.
"The covers, the cotton and the latex, we didn't keep that either. That just went into landfill."
