Ellie aims for a more sustainable fashion and textile industry. Ellie has a news monitoring tool, this collects news articles on a daily basis for a number of different articles and recent news. This blog post is about the most recent news regarding the Mattress Industry.
Sustainable mattresses, why?
- With 35 million mattresses being thrown out every year in Europe, this industry is one of the largest contributors to household waste worldwide. In Belgium, approximately 900,000 mattresses are put on the market each year.
- Recycling mattresses is still very complex because of the amount of different materials, foam and glue that is used in production which makes most of them hardly recyclable.
- More and more manufacturers are reassessing their current production processes and optimizing them for recycling and reuse. Examples of sustainable innovations are in the area of:
- Mono-material flows
- Natural recyled raw material
- Design-for-disassembly
Latest industry updates
Sealy Introduces Eco-Friendly and Responsibly-Sourced Sealy Naturals Collection
PR Newswire – 21/01/2022
The new Sealy Naturals mattresses combine environmental responsibility with the comfort and quality that consumers have come to expect from Sealy. The mattresses are created with 100% natural latex and ethically-harvested wool—for comfort, breathability and support—and a cover made from a blend of materials including soft hemp and organic cotton. Each Sealy Naturals mattress is also built using a hybrid innerspring and latex design, and uses techniques such as hand-tufting, for a beautiful, durable and environmentally-friendly construction.
Mattress Recycling Council Surpasses 10 Million Mattresses Recycled
Waste360 – 09/03/2022
To put the 10 million mattress milestone into perspective, MRC transports nearly 10,000 truckloads of mattresses annually from its more than 300 collection sites to nearby recycling facilities for disassembly. The recyclers then prepare the materials for sale to scrap dealers. This work creates entry level positions as well as jobs for skilled technicians who maintain complex recycling machinery. Nonprofit organizations, including Goodwill, Habitat for Humanity, the Local Conservation Corps in California, Park City Green, Salvation Army and St. Vincent de Paul, in addition to small-businesses and other companies operate MRC’s collection sites, collection events and recycling facilities. A number of these organizations use mattress recycling positions to bolster their jobs training programs. Together, MRC’s collection network supports approximately 300 local green jobs.
BekaertDeslee introduces Transparent Circularity
BekaertDeslee – 08/03/2022
BekaertDeslee will produce and sell mattress covers with an integrated and unique QR/RFID label linked to an online digital platform starting from spring. Doing so, every mattress made with such a cover will have its individual material and production information on the platform, accessible to all stakeholders. At the end of life, recycling companies will be able to read the information through RFID to identify, sort, and recycle the cover. Demet Tunç: “In this way, the worn-out materials can be returned to raw materials and repeatedly reused in new covers and mattresses or any other application.”
BekaertDeslee’s “Transparent Circularity” concept encourages all stakeholders in the value chain to support a circular economy in the mattress sector using an online digital platform.
PR Newswire – 10/03/2022
In October 2020, GOTS uncovered a fraudulent scheme by certain cotton producers in India to create fake government-approved organic transaction certificates and websites. GOTS caught the fraud, stopped it, and banned eleven companies and a certifier from its system. GOTS has continuously been improving its organic tracking system and fraud prevention measures, which has produced ongoing positive results. Naturepedic is one of the only organic mattress and bedding manufacturers that has been continuously certified (and with high marks) for fifteen years, approximately when the GOTS organic certification program was first offered to the mattress industry. The U.S. Organic Trade Association (OTA), in coordination with GOTS, now also has an “Organic Fraud Prevention Plan,” and Naturepedic was the first non-food certified organic product to complete the plan.
Heimtextil Conference, ‘Sleep & More’ to focus on healthy sleep
Furniture Today – 14/02/2022
Sleep myths, corona fatigue and sustainable hotel room concepts of tomorrow: coinciding with the German Day of Sleep, the Heimtextil Conference ‘Sleep & More’ will begin from June 21, 2022.
The four-day international fair will provide bed dealers, retailers and hospitality decision-makers with answers to the megatrend ‘healthy sleep’.
In addition to the latest findings in sleep research, numerous keynotes will also highlight important issues concerning the green future of the hotel bed. From sleep myths and scientific facts on post-corona sleep to tracking technology, this summer renowned sleep and hotel industry experts will be providing decisive impetus at the Heimtextil Conference ‘Sleep & More’.
Fiber2Fashion – 21/03/2022
Technology continues to grow in importance with consumers and again, bedding producers are at the ready with smart beds that measure everything from sleep quality to time slept to key health indicators including heart rate, respiratory patterns and snoring.
Beyond technology that helps track, ease and keep consumers slumbering and keep them up to date with key health indicators, cooler sleep temperatures have remained a critical component of a restful night with sleep. Bedding companies have been promoting cooler sleep and adjusting mattress and pillow builds with cooling foams and other innovation for years, and that trend remains hot. Tapping into the increased interest in healthy sleep and overall wellness, a number of power base suppliers have developed products geared to the Baby Boomer generation that is looking to age in place, staying at home instead of moving to an assisted living community.
Let´s finish this blog with the trends we observe right now:
With the introduction of ERP, we see that in recent years the bedding sector has invested at an accelerated pace in sustainable development, which now also translates into a growing sustainable/circular offer in the market.
In terms of raw materials we observe a lot of concepts made from mono materials of bio based streams like polyester, natural latex or wool.
Next to product innovation, transparancy & collaboration across the value chain also plays a crucial role. Examples like the ‘Transparant Circularity’ concept are fully committed to facilitating this.
Techology and how it can contribute to our daily life, to our healthy sleep has triggered consumer interests and more and more producers are anticipating on this trend with new concepts making use of technology.
