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Invasives should be pulled or killed by herbicide and not be permitted to be sold in nurseries

Dear Subcommittee Members, Used mattresses are impossible to donate or give away, as recipients don't want to risk sanitary issues. They are bulky and hard to transport. Delivering them to the landfill may require a tipping fee, which not everyone can afford. No one wants to see them dumped along our roads or in our woods. We urge you to require manufacturers to take them back to recycle. Sincerely, Patricia Mertz Esswein, Chairperson, Conservation & Sustainability Commission, Town of Vienna, Va.

I would like to emphasize the following point: HB86 should explicitly include mattress shredding as an approved and supported processing method. Additional comments in support of this position have been submitted previously for the record.

A provision should be included to establish a regulated licensing pathway for mattress collection and transport, administered through the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR). This program should prioritize women-owned businesses for initial licensing opportunities to encourage economic participation and business development within this emerging sector of waste management. Under this framework, licensed junk hauling companies would be authorized to collect and transport mattresses for approved processing or recycling facilities. The licensing requirements should be structured to ensure accountability, safety, and proper handling of materials, while remaining streamlined and practical so that small and minority-owned businesses are not excluded by excessive administrative or financial barriers. Creating a priority pathway for women-owned businesses would support workforce growth, expand compliant collection capacity, and promote fair access to new market opportunities created by mattress stewardship programs. A DPOR-regulated but accessible licensing model would strengthen oversight, reduce illegal dumping, and ensure that mattress collection is performed by qualified, traceable operators operating within the law. Also, following up on a previous note: Illegal dumping and improper residential disposal at public transfer stations create significant financial, environmental, and operational burdens for local governments. These practices increase cleanup costs, strain landfill capacity, and undermine the integrity of regulated waste management systems. Addressing this issue requires a coordinated approach that combines enforcement, infrastructure, and public engagement.

I serve on my county solid waste advisory committee and I wish to voice my support for HB86. Mattresses present an especially challenging waste problem. Most mattresses end up in a landfill where they take up an out-sized amount of space, they often “float” to the top of the landfill, and get caught up in the machinery used to manage the landfill. Virginia landfills are running out of space. According to the 2023 Solid Waste Information & Assessment (SWIA) report, Virginia has approximately 236 million tons of remaining landfill capacity. At the current disposal rate of 11.7 million tons per year, this capacity is projected to last approximately 20.1 years. Additionally, mattresses are often dumped on roadsides, in private dumpsters or at donation drop off locations like the Goodwill Stores. As a result someone other than the consumer, manufacturer or retailer must ultimately pay the price for disposal. The DEQ draft of the Virginia Solid Waste Management Plan released last October placed a high priority on legislative action to expand Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) to include a broader range of products including mattresses. HB86 would do just that, keeping this bulky product out of our landfills and bolstering material recycling. Recycling recovers valuable materials therefore conserving resources and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It also creates job opportunities. HB86 is an important step in moving Virginia toward a thriving circular economy.

Clean Virginia Waterways strongly supports HB86. Mattresses are consistently among the most commonly dumped household items we encounter during our large-scale cleanups. Their bulk and high disposal costs make them difficult for residents to discard properly, contributing to litter in communities and natural areas. Product stewardship programs are one of the most effective ways to address this problem. By placing responsibility on producers to design and fund recycling systems for their products, these programs ensure that items are managed responsibly at the end of their life. Closing this gap between product design and disposal has been shown to reduce litter, incineration, and landfilling, while strengthening recycling systems overall. The need for action is clear: according to the Mattress Recycling Council, more than 50,000 mattresses are discarded in the U.S. every day, even though more than 75 percent of a mattress can be recycled. HB86 would help make mattress recycling more accessible, reducing waste and protecting our communities and environment.

One important point I neglected to mention is the scale of mattress collection already occurring through private service providers. Our junk hauling company alone collects an average of approximately 600 mattresses and box springs per month from apartment complexes. Several other established junk hauling companies in the region report comparable volumes, and in some cases significantly higher. In addition, hotels represent a substantial source of discarded mattresses; however, many are reluctant to pay for proper recycling or hauling services despite being major contributors to the waste stream. To address this volume efficiently, a grant or incentive program would be highly beneficial to help fund the equipment and infrastructure needed to process mattresses more effectively. This would improve compliance, reduce improper disposal, and support responsible private-sector participation. Based on our operational experience, properties that rely on open dump containers or dumpsters for mattress disposal frequently become targets for illegal dumping. In one instance, we identified a private operator offering extremely low-cost mattress pickup. By using an Apple AirTag, we confirmed that these mattresses were being illegally redistributed to other properties rather than properly processed. This highlights the need for clear enforcement provisions and meaningful penalties within any program framework to prevent fraudulent or illegal handling of mattresses in the future. Incorporating these safeguards and support mechanisms will help ensure that mattress collection and processing systems are both effective and accountable.

I support HB86. Product stewardship programs are one of the best tools to reduce litter & increase recycling. Mattress recycling options are scarce in Virginia despite the fact that more than 75 percent of a mattress can be recycled. Convenient & free recycling locations will keep mattresses out of our landfills, roadsides, streams, parks & other places where people might want to dump them.

Chair and Members of the Committee, On behalf of Lynnhaven River NOW, the leading conservation and restoration organization in Virginia Beach dedicated to protecting clean water and healthy coastal ecosystems, I respectfully urge you to support HB 86, which would establish a statewide Mattress Stewardship Program and require producers, retailers, and renovators to participate in a certified mattress recycling organization approved by the Department of Environmental Quality. Hampton Roads is in the middle of a growing solid-waste crunch. The region’s primary waste authority has had to send substantially more material to the Regional Landfill in Suffolk since the local waste-to-energy option closed, and leaders have made clear that without meaningful diversion, the landfill’s remaining capacity is finite and increasingly constrained—especially because future expansion is limited by wetlands and permitting realities. In that context, HB 86 is exactly the kind of practical, producer-funded tool Virginia needs to cut landfill-bound tonnage and reduce illegal dumping. Mattresses are a prime target for stewardship: they are bulky, expensive to manage, and take up disproportionate landfill space—yet they contain recoverable, high-value materials like steel, foam, fiber, and wood. Nationally, more than 50,000 mattresses are discarded each day, and more than 75% of a mattress can be recycled. By requiring a stewardship plan and creating convenient, no-cost collection options, HB 86 will divert recyclable materials from disposal, reduce litter and dumping, and help build Virginia’s recycling and resource-recovery capacity—benefiting households and major mattress users alike, including hotels, hospitals, universities, and military installations. Product stewardship works because it fixes the disconnect between product design and end-of-life management: producers are best positioned to finance and manage responsible recycling systems, and stewardship programs in other states have already demonstrated large-scale diversion and measurable public benefits. For the health of our waterways, neighborhoods, and local budgets, we urge you to advance HB 86 and help Virginia take a meaningful step toward a more circular, less wasteful economy. Thank you for your consideration.

HB86 should recognize and authorize the use of qualified junk hauling companies and other appropriate private service providers as part of a comprehensive mattress collection and management strategy. These entities are already embedded in local communities and routinely operate under county contracts, state contracts, and private residential and commercial agreements. Leveraging existing junk haul and waste service infrastructure will expand collection coverage, reduce illegal dumping, and provide flexible, cost-effective logistics for retrieving discarded mattresses from apartments, retailers, institutions, and households. In addition to mattress recycling, HB86 should explicitly include mattress shredding as an approved and supported processing method. Shredding significantly reduces mattress volume, improves transportation efficiency, and enables material separation for downstream recycling or disposal. For landfills, shredded mattress material maximizes airspace utilization, reduces handling hazards associated with bulky whole mattresses, and improves compaction efficiency. Incorporating shredding alongside recycling creates a practical, scalable system that balances environmental responsibility with operational reality, ensuring mattresses are diverted from illegal dumping while being managed through the most efficient and environmentally sound methods available. Furthermore, mattress processing activities generate measurable economic value through service fees, material recovery, and contracted operations. This revenue stream creates an opportunity for counties to collect additional local taxes and fees associated with mattress collection and processing services. These funds can be redirected to support higher-priority public initiatives, including infrastructure improvements, environmental programs, and community services, without increasing the general tax burden on residents. A program that integrates recycling, shredding, and public-private collection partnerships will strengthen compliance, reduce overall waste management costs, and provide both environmental and fiscal benefits to local governments across Virginia.

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