Every year, thousands of tonnes of bedding end up in landfill, with mattresses causing the most significant issues. Many bedding products are made from non-renewable materials, and there is a limited network of recycling facilities to recover resources which could have another life and value.

By working together, we can help Australians sleep sustainably.

The Australian Bedding Stewardship Council (ABSC) Scheme recognises that a whole-of-industry approach is needed to move the bedding industry towards a circular economy and provide national recycling solutions (including in regional communities).

The Scheme works in partnership with Government of all levels, supply chain, manufacturers, retailers, importers, recyclers and industry partners to help achieve these objectives.

Mattresses were named on the Federal Minister for the Environment and Water’s Priority List (naming the products and materials that need urgent product stewardship action) for the second year in a row in 2023-24.

With approximately 1.8 million mattresses disposed of each year and the significant issues they cause in Australian landfills, mattresses are a key focus for the ABSC Scheme*.

Mattresses in landfill:

• take up valuable space much needed for other items such as organics;
• can cause fires and subsidence; and
• contain non-renewable resources such as steel, foams and textiles, which are being buried, taking many decades to break down.

As well as clogging up landfills, many mattresses are dumped on our streets as they are heavy, awkward to handle, and can be difficult and expensive to dispose of.

These negative factors lead to unsafe landfills filling up more quickly than they should, unsightly kerbsides in our local communities and specifically a loss of resources that could be recovered.

*While mattresses are the current focus, from FY26 onwards the focus of the Scheme will be expanded to include bed bases and top of bed categories.