Request
Please see below, 11 questions relating to mattress disposal in your council areas:
1. Do you accept mattresses at the majority/all HWRCs? Please answer yes or no for each council.
2. How are most of the mattress materials and components disposed of from HWRCs in each council? Please select one option for each:
a) Sent for recycling (i.e., separated into component parts)
b) Sent for landfill
c) Sent for incineration for energy recovery
3. Do you offer a collection service for mattresses (bulky items)? Please answer yes or no for each council.
4. If yes, what is the charge?
5. If yes, how are most of the mattress materials and components disposed of from collections in each council? Please select one option for each:
a) Sent for recycling (i.e., separated into component parts)
b) Sent for landfill
c) Sent for incineration for energy recovery
6. Does your authority have plans to revise how mattresses are disposed of in the next 12 months? Please answer yes or no.
7. If yes, how do you plan to dispose of mattresses in future?
8. Do you signpost households to private sector mattress recycling providers in your region? Please answer yes or no.
9. If yes, please list providers.
10. Where possible, please provide a URL(s) for any pages on your website which provide information to residents about mattress disposal.
Response
Further to our email acknowledging your Environmental Information Regulations request (reference 2023-216), our response is as follows.
1. Do you accept mattresses at the majority/all HWRCs? Please answer yes or no for each council.
A. We accept mattresses at all our Reuse and Recycling Centres (RRCs).
2. How are most of the mattress materials and components disposed of from HWRCs in each council? Please select one option for each:
a) Sent for recycling (i.e., separated into component parts)
b) Sent for landfill
c) Sent for incineration for energy recovery
A. Mattresses are separated into their component parts by our contractor. Of these parts, 98% of each mattress is recycled and 2% is incinerated at energy from waste facilities. No parts are sent to landfill.
3. Do you offer a collection service for mattresses (bulky items)? Please answer yes or no for each council.
A. NLWA does not provide collection services. Collection services, including for bulky waste, are provided by the seven north London borough councils. Further information is available on the councils' websites:
https://www.barnet.gov.uk/bulkywaste
https://www.camden.gov.uk/bulky-waste-collection
https://www.enfield.gov.uk/services/rubbish-and-recycling/bulky-rubbish
https://hackney.gov.uk/bulky-waste
https://new.haringey.gov.uk/rubbish-recycling/bulky-item-collections
https://www.islington.gov.uk/recycling-and-rubbish/large-items
https://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/rubbish-and-recycling/household-bin-collections/book-large-item-collection
4. If yes, what is the charge?
A. We do not hold information on the charges for the boroughs' collection services.
5. If yes, how are most of the mattress materials and components disposed of from collections in each council? Please select one option for each:
a) Sent for recycling (i.e., separated into component parts)
b) Sent for landfill
c) Sent for incineration for energy recovery
A. All mattresses collected by the councils or taken to the RRCs are disposed of in the way described in our answer to question 2 above.
6. Does your authority have plans to revise how mattresses are disposed of in the next 12 months? Please answer yes or no.
A. No, we do not have plans to revise how mattresses are disposed of in the next 12 months.
7. If yes, how do you plan to dispose of mattresses in future?
A. Not applicable
8. Do you signpost households to private sector mattress recycling providers in your region? Please answer yes or no.
A. No, we do not signpost households to private sector mattress recycling providers.
9. If yes, please list providers.
A. Not applicable
10. Where possible, please provide a URL(s) for any pages on your website which provide information to residents about mattress disposal.
A. Please refer to the following page on our website: nlwa.gov.uk/reducereuserecycle/recycle/whatcanwerecycle/mattress
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you may ask for an internal review, which should be submitted within two months of when you received our response to either informationrequests@nlwa.gov.uk or our enquiry form (nlwa.gov.uk/enquiry) quoting the above reference.
If you are not content with the outcome of the review, you may complain to the Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, or via their complaints form (ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/foi-and-eir-complaints/foi-and-eir-complaints). The Information Commissioner will not usually accept complaints before a review has been completed.
