The Ministry of Environment is considering charging manufacturers or importers of mattresses recycling fees, as discarded beds have been clogging up the nation’s waste disposal facilities.
Last year, people threw away 1,800 tonnes of spring mattresses, including 580,000 units from the six special municipalities, ministry officials said.
Pocket spring mattresses accounted for about half of the bulk, they said, adding that they are difficult to disassemble because of their complex design..
Photo courtesy of the Taipei Department of Environmental Protection
The recycling logjams are threatening to overburden the nation’s landfills, they said.
Piles of unprocessed mattresses are ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes and pose a threat to public health and sanitation, they added.
The ministry is talking to the six special municipalities about imposing a disposal fee on mattress manufacturers and importers to fund subsidies for recycling contractors, Resource Circulation Administration deputy director-general Lin Chien-san (林健三) said.
City governments and contractors involved in the discussions have yet to reach a consensus about the proposed measure, but local environmental authorities have expressed their willingness to cooperate, he said.
The ministry also recommends using the stuffing in pocket spring mattresses as incinerator fuel, Lin said.
Asked about the proposal, the Kaohsiung Environmental Bureau said that the city collects about 100,000 discarded spring mattresses per year, but its small crew of sanitation workers can take apart only 10 ordinary mattresses or 3.5 pocket spring mattresses a day.
Starting in January next year, the bureau will begin charging the public up to NT$700 to dispose of used mattresses, it said, adding that people who bring the beds to the landfill themselves could save up to NT$200.
A Taichung City Government spokesperson said the backlog of discarded pocket spring mattresses nearly overran the city’s landfills until it started in June to use automated shredders that can take apart 500 beds a day.
The Tainan City Government said it collects about 4,000 used spring mattresses, and uses temporary storage and contractor-operated shredders that can take apart 300 beds a day.
Tainan Environmental Protection Bureau Acting Director-General Hsu Jen-tse (許仁澤) said his bureau is considering imposing the same disposal fees as Kaohsiung to prevent residents from the other city from dumping their mattresses in Tainan.
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