Dream Green Makes Mattress Recycling Easier
Co-owner Patrick Kennedy says they aim to reuse more than 90 percent of a mattress.
Kennedy, a longtime employee of Central Radio in North Adams, noticed a problem. It was not easy to recycle old mattresses, especially since the 2022 state law banning their disposal in trash.
Not only are mattresses difficult to move and transport, people often face steep disposal costs that dissuade them from recycling retired mattresses and box springs.
"Mattresses have to go to Lenox or they go far out east to Gardner so we wanted to find a way to make it easier and more affordable," he said.
Kennedy went to Danforth, a realtor and contractor, with the business opportunity. They roped in Wojtkowski and got to work in March 2023.
"We were working out of my garage, but we got the boot from there. So we went to this place and it has been a lot easier since," Danforth said
Dream Green moved to the former MRA building in the Adams Industrial Park, located at 15 Print Works Drive. They converted some of the office space into a large working area that allows them to more easily process — or filet the mattresses.
"We cut them open and separate the toppers, the foam, blue padding and whatever else and we find a third party who will take the materials and put it back into the stream, to get more life out of it," Danforth said.
Danforth said this is not a typical practice mostly because it is a lot of work. Other businesses that operate at a larger scale send the mattresses through a grinder. Although the costly machine is efficient it may not yield the same amount of reusable materials.
By tearing down a mattress by hand, they are able to recycle more. Kennedy said they are able to recycle more than 90 percent of a mattress.
"Our goal is to set the standard for mattress recycling. They say about 85 percent of it can be recycled. We hope to be able to recycle 90 percent and every percentage goes up," he said. "What gets tossed away is actually very very small."
Kennedy said Dream Green has a system and can process a mattress in around 12 minutes, noting some of the older mattresses are more difficult and can take much longer.
Danforth said it is important to be hands on and he hopes one day to be able to expand. He wants to be able to offer full time jobs in Adams.
"Our goal, being from a small community, we want to create jobs. So if I can keep everything hands-on, and I can hire 20 people to come in," he said. "I'd love to see 100 mattresses here a day. Get people full time, ripping these down right now. It's pretty much just us right now."
He said they probably deconstructed 300 mattresses while in the garage and another 1,500 since opening in Adams.
Inside their work room there are piles of different materials — most notably the bundled foam.
"If this foam was not bailed you would not be able to walk in here. It is an amazing reduction," Kennedy said, adding that each bail holds about 50 mattresses.
From there they need to find other businesses who will take the different elements of a mattress noting some components are easier to move than others.
"I think one of the hardest problems we're having now is selling it back," Danforth said. "We have some connections with foam and we know we have to get so many pounds to sell it back and stuff like that. But all your wood from your box springs … we have to pay to recycle it. But it's free wood, and there should be an outlet."
Newer mattresses can be resold or donated after a deep cleaning. Danforth said some of their mattresses have never been used or have been protected in a plastic enclosure.
"There is still a lot of life in some of these mattresses," Danforth said.
The group is open to expanding services and works closely with Casella and the Northern Berkshire Solid Waste Management District to see what they are having a hard time recycling.
"We think of ourselves as problem solvers," Wojtkowski said. "This is a fresh start, and we have the room to explore different avenues. We have the time and patience to really explore it."
He added that much of their time is spent researching and having conversations with industry partners.
The business has grown and they now recycle electronics, e-waste, and appliances or "anything with a wire," Wojtkowski said. They break down computers and air conditions and sort out the different components.
"With the AC units we are breaking them completely down. Your radiator panels — all goes to scrap," Danforth said. "You split the copper, your aluminum, all that stuff. And then the only thing that we're throwing away right now is the rigid plastic because we can't recycle it."
As for computers Wojtkowski said most parts are recyclable.
"I'm taking apart the computers, and I've gotten the process down to once I'm done with the computer, all that's left is the metal casing," he said.
The only thing they do not recycle are hard drives because they contain personal information. Wojtkowski said those are handed back to clients or properly shredded so they are completely destroyed.
Another important element of Dream Green's business is accessibility. Not only do they have drop off times, they will pick up mattresses. Danforth said they will travel essentially throughout Western Mass.
Danforth said similar businesses logistically cannot travel out to the Berkshires without overstepping their carbon footprint. So they often leave receptacles at various transfer stations for pick up.
This means mattresses are traveling twice. With Dream Green pickup, that travel time is greatly reduced.
Kennedy added that people often don't have the time or means to move a mattress so they are happy to provide the service.
Danforth added that they are also more affordable adding that the typical rate for mattress disposal is around $100. Dream Green will pick the mattress up and get rid of it for $45.
Dream Green disposal prices can be found here.
Danforth added they plan to roll out online pickup scheduling soon.
Danforth said the town of Adams has been receptive. They had planned to open in North Adams, but found it too difficult to find a suitable building.
"Adams has been the number one supporter," he said. "... Anything we need they have been right on board because they want us to succeed. They know it is good for the town."
Danforth added that Linda Cernik of the Solid Waste Management District has also been a "blessing" making sure they are always in step with the state Department of Environmental Protection.
Looking toward the future, Dream Green wants to be more than a mattress recycler. It also wants to take the burden of recycling off area transfer stations.
"Transfer stations are not recyclers. They just move stuff around. We want to recycle and do it all in house and let the transfer stations just deal with trash," Danforth said. "It is expensive to run these transfer stations and we want to be able to just go pick up recyclables and be that one-stop shop. Feed it all to us and let us do the recycling."
Tags: new business, recycling,
