“Ecodesign and mattress recycling”
For a greener future, ADA is setting its sights on training.
In Austria, up to 1.4 million mattresses end up in landfills each year. Europe-wide, the figure rises to over 30 million. This is set to change. With recyclable mattresses. And this is something we agree with. Romeo David, ADA Head of Development Mattresses & Slatted Frames, and Gerhard Derler, ADA Head of Quality Assurance, took part in the industry circle “Ecodesign and Recycling of Mattresses” at the Climate Lab in Vienna in March.
Workshop with innovation potential
The workshop was the kick-off for an innovation programme for circular mattresses. – a programme that takes a close look at the entire value chain. Renowned manufacturers, waste disposal companies, industry representatives, scientists, administrative experts and 4 drivers of change from the Federal Ministry for Climate Protection, TU Vienna Ecodesign, the Swiss Mattress Alliance and Neveon discussed which path they would like to take towards a circular economy in the future.
The event began with a presentation about legal regulations, such as the European Ecodesign Directive. This regulation is intended to create an EU-wide basis for ecologically sustainable design and thus for recyclable products. In the future, ecodesign will make a decisive difference, enabling products designed in such a way that they can be easily dismantled into their component parts.
After this, a circular business model was presented. This not only showed how much CO2 goes into making the mattresses, but also that most of it is produced during the extraction of raw materials. To make production as climate-friendly as possible, therefore, it is crucial to keep recyclable materials like box springs, latex or cold foam in the cycle for as long as possible.
Inspiration then came from Switzerland, where a mattress alliance was founded two years ago with the plan to build the first recycling plant for mattresses as early as 2024/25.
Discussions with constructive solutions
The discussion rounds are a key part of every industry circle. Major players, including Ikea, Giga, Sembella, Betten Reiter, Optimo and ADA, exchanged views, innovative ideas and solutions for everything from production to sales to disposal with experts from the world of science. Something that all agree on is that success in the circular economy can only be achieved by working together. Even if there are still a few hurdles to overcome at present, the will and motivation to make mattresses sustainable are there.
