An amendment to a New York recycling bill that would have removed a critical provision calling for funding of the mattress recycling program through a small consumer fee has failed to pass.
ISPA said in an email it supported the consumer fee provision because it is “the most efficient, transparent and equitable way to fund a statewide mattress recycling program. California, Connecticut and Rhode Island all use consumer fees to fund their mattress recycling programs. Those programs have been very successful, recycling over 13 million mattresses and box springs since they began. ISPA supports reasonable state mattress recycling bills that include a consumer fee funding mechanism, but opposes legislation that does not follow this sound approach.”
The association says it is concerned that if states required mattress producers to fund mattress recycling instead of consumers it would be difficult to require foreign mattress producers to pay their share of the recycling costs.
“Since about 30% of mattresses sold in the United States are imported, domestic. producers would be forced to pay more than their fair share of the recycling costs, which would place them at a competitive disadvantage relative to their foreign competitors,” ISPA says. “As a result, ISPA withdrew its support for this legislation once the New York bill was amended to remove the consumer fee requirement.
Leaders of the New York Assembly can call the chamber back into session later this year. All seats in the New York Assembly are up for election this November.
