RECYCLING & WASTE MANAGEMENT
A STICKY SITUATION
Although the cost of recycling has always been an issue for the industry, inflation and price rises across all sectors has exacerbated it, suggests Nick Oettinger, CEO of The Furniture Recycling Group.
The UK’s furniture waste problem is substantial, with many household products ending up in landfill each year. More specifically, 8.5 million mattresses are thrown away per year, which equates to 300,000 tonnes of materials that we need to find a home for.
The best and most effective way to help tackle the current waste problem is to implement an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme specifically for household furniture. This would ensure that businesses that manufacture, import, and sell products are held responsible for the waste they generate. An EPR scheme would encourage producers to design better mattresses, whether that’s using longer-lasting materials, recycled materials, or simply making them in a way that’s easier to recycle. The drop-down effect would put extra pressure on retailers to choose a responsible manufacturer to partner with for the mattresses that they sell.
For the entire recycling and waste management industry, rising costs and inflation continue to be the biggest barrier to implementing positive change. Although the cost of recycling has always been an issue for the industry, inflation has exacerbated it further.
Firstly, the cost of recycling mattresses is substantial due to the lengthy process, as it involves dismantling the mattress into 19 different components, including steel, latex, foam, and polyester. These materials are then sorted, sanitised, and quality checked so they can be recycled into new products. Companies should seek to improve efficiency, for example at TFR Group, we are planning to introduce a new automated dismantling line which will reduce the cost of recycling by limiting the labour required to dismantle the products.
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Secondly, mattresses can be costly to recycle due to the quality of materials used in production. Low- value materials are often prioritised in production, and mechanically fixed together, which creates a high cost when it comes to separation and segregation. The problem the industry faces is that, without an effective EPR scheme in place, production companies will continue to remain reliant on these low-cost, low-value materials when designing and developing furniture as costs continue to rise, without considering the end-of-life of each product.
Although it isn’t an industry-specific problem, as the costs such as electricity, labour, and transportation continue to rise, for example, companies will have to improve their efficiency. This involves analysing every process and output to ensure that value for money is achieved, and unnecessary costs are removed - for example, at TFR Group we are using electric forklifts and minimising material movement where possible in order to maximise efficiencies throughout the process. At TFR Group, we also seek to improve efficiency when it comes to mattress recycling, for example our compression system due to be introduced will reduce the cost of transporting mattresses five-fold, by shrinking the size of mattresses and increasing capacity for transportation.
The recycling industry is in a sticky situation at the moment: as companies and consumers look to do better for the environment and sustainability but the rising costs associated are making it all the more difficult. But with an EPR scheme, and improved efficiencies (such as our compression system), there’s no reason why the cost-of-living crisis should have any real effect on the amount we recycle.
www.tfrgroup.co.uk twitter.com/TomorrowsFM
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