NSW Waste Plan: A Wake Up Call And a Chance to Do Better With Mattresses

The NSW Government’s new Waste and Circular Infrastructure Plan lays out a stark message — Greater Sydney is on track to run out of landfill within six years. Without urgent action, essential services like red-bin collections will face major disruptions, costs will rise, and waste will move interstate or into illegal stockpiles.

The good news? The plan also signals a turning point. It puts circular economy principles at the centre of NSW waste planning, prioritising reuse, repair, and recycling over disposal, and recognising energy from waste (EfW) as a managed transition pathway for the materials that can’t yet be recovered.

At the Australian Bedding Stewardship Council (ABSC), we welcome this direction. Our industry has already shown what circular thinking looks like in practice. Every year, thousands of tonnes of mattresses and bases are kept out of landfill through our national network of accredited recyclers. Steel, timber, and foam are returned to productive use, and the small amount of residual material that remains can and should form part of responsible EfW solutions.

“Mattresses are one of the largest bulky items in landfill. By designing for disassembly and investing in the right infrastructure, we can turn that problem waste into local jobs and materials,” said Kylie Roberts-Frost, CEO of the ABSC.

The plan’s focus on streamlining approvals and integrating waste into long-term urban planning also has real potential to accelerate circular infrastructure.

ABSC’s members, from recyclers and manufacturers to retailers, are ready to help make that happen.

“We support energy from waste as a transitional step for residuals, not as an endpoint, but as part of a credible pathway to full circularity,” Roberts-Frost added.

The next chapters of the NSW plan, due later this year, will explore regional waste and recycling investment. ABSC will be advocating for mattresses and bedding to be included as priority materials, both for the diversion capacity they offer and for the economic value they unlock.

Because better bedding means better outcomes — for households, for industry, and for the planet.