Battery fire threat to recycled mattresses

Dutch mattress recycler RetourMatras is reporting a growing number of batteries and electronics hidden in its incoming waste stream. ‘These are dangerous objects that can cause a major fire and we see it more and more,’ the company warns in a press release announcing the launch of its fourth facility in the Netherlands.

Electronic appliances and batteries with mattresses can have huge consequences, the company’s management emphasises, ‘Both for us and for your employees at the recycling centre’. RetourMatras is calling on consumers and businesses to ensure that waste flows are collected in the right bin. ‘In this way we prevent dangerous situations happening and materials can be processed correctly,’ it says.

RetourMatras’ latest facility in the south of the Netherlands has opened its doors. It has been built through a partnership with IKEA, Renewi and Ikano Industry. The company has now the capacity to scrap up to 1.5 million mattresses.

RetourMatras appears in Recycling International’s TOP 100 which has been published in the latest issue.