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Senate committee hears support and concerns for mattress stewardship bill
Summary
Witnesses and local officials told the Environment, Energy, and Technology Committee that Senate Bill 6,271 would help divert bulky mattresses from landfills but debated who should pay, how to avoid long-haul transport emissions, and whether Washington should follow existing multi‑state models.
Senate Bill 6,271, which would create an extended producer responsibility program for mattresses, drew broad support from local governments and recyclers at a public hearing before the Environment, Energy, and Technology Committee.
Alicia Kinney Clausen, staff to the committee, summarized the bill’s core requirements: mattress producers must form a producer responsibility organization (PRO) by Jan. 1, 2027, and begin implementing an approved PRO plan by Jan. 1, 2031; the PRO must register with Ecology, set producer fees (prohibited as separate point-of-sale consumer fees), provide accessible collection (including mechanisms for illegally dumped mattresses), and include a plan target of at least 70% recycling. “The PRO plan must include a collection mechanism for illegally dumped mattresses,” Kinney Clausen said during her briefing.
Supporters said the program could cut local disposal costs and free landfill space. Preston Peck, senior sustainability analyst for Tacoma Environmental Services, said Tacoma lacks in‑state recycling options, forcing the city to landfill mattresses and pay rising disposal costs; he told the committee that curbside and illegal-dumping programs collected more than 8,000 mattresses in 2025 at a disposal cost the city estimated between $250,000 and $300,000. “We would like to see a program where mattress manufacturers support and fund an accessible and equitable recycling program in Washington,” Peck said.
Amy O’Grilliter, government-relations manager for the King County Solid Waste Division, said King County sends roughly 320,000 mattresses to landfill each year and can currently recycle fewer than 10% of them locally (about 25,000 units annually). She urged lawmakers to adopt an EPR model to fund statewide infrastructure and noted that a mattress’s springs, foam, textiles and wood are recoverable when the right processing exists.
Private recyclers described existing operations and expansion plans. A mattress recycler testifying from Everett said his facility processes about 100,000 mattresses a year and that roughly 90% of incoming material can be diverted from landfills into reusable streams; he said contracts and tipping fees vary — for example, his facility charges around $15 for a twin and $25 for a king, and King County’s contract currently pays about $20 per unit.
Not all witnesses endorsed the bill as drafted. Carrie Dolan of the Washington Hospitality Association said the draft assigns responsibility to brand or trademark owners rather than manufacturers and warned that small businesses could face administrative burden and costs. Rose Gunderson, representing a retail trade group in the record, urged alignment with other states’ models to preserve economies of scale for national retailers. Allison, identified as the president of the International Sleep Products Association and the Mattress Recycling Council, said the association has experience operating programs in several states and that Washington should aim to adopt a proven template.
Committee members raised operational and environmental questions. One senator expressed concern that transporting mattresses long distances to recycle them could increase greenhouse-gas emissions compared with landfilling; recycling proponents said that is precisely why the bill is intended to spur capital investment and in‑state recycling infrastructure so transport distances shrink.
The public hearing closed after the panel and written sign-ins were recorded. The committee will consider stakeholder input as the policy continues to be developed.
