Information provided by County of San Benito. Lea este articulo en español aquí.
The Mattress Recycling Council (MRC) has awarded the County of San Benito $52,000 in funding to combat the illegal dumping of mattresses within the community.
“We are very excited for the opportunity to work with the Mattress Recycling Council to increase awareness and opportunities for our community members to responsibly recycle their mattresses and bulky items, such as tires and couches, which are all common items we see dumped on the side of the road,” said Integrated Waste Manager, Celina Stotler, “the San Benito County Board of Supervisors has taken an aggressive approach to curb illegal dumping in our community, including recently increasing fines for illegal dumping up to $10,000. These funds from MRC will further bolster our efforts currently in progress.”
Starting in 2021, MRC encouraged communities harmed by illegal mattress dumping to propose pilot projects to address the problem. So far, MRC has funded projects in Berkeley, San Jose, Palmdale and San Rafael to support their innovative efforts to combat illegal dumping.
The illegal dumping prevention project in the County of San Benito will use a multifaceted approach to combat illegal mattress dumping. Specifically, the project will deploy quarterly bilingual postcard mailings advertising free recycling events and programs, the installation of 50 bilingual signs about increased fines imposed for illegal dumping, in-person outreach at community events and workshops, and collaboration with Recology, the County’s franchised waste hauler, for bilingual outreach promoting mattress and bulky item recycling. These strategies aim to increase recycling event attendance, raise wareness, and educate residents.
The funds awarded will help to make mattress and bulky item recycling more accessible to all members of the County of San Benito community, and help the area address illegal dumping which has been particularly acute in rural areas.
“We appreciate San Benito County’s efforts to curb the incidence of illegal dumping in their community and are pleased to help them implement this program,” said Taylor Grimes, Illegally Dumped Mattress Collection Initiative Coordinator at the Mattress recycling Council.
San Benito County residents can recycle mattresses and other bulky items at John Smith Road Landfill for free.
Please Visit www.cosb.us/IWM to learn more about FREE disposal events and services offered year-round to San Benito County residents. Residents can call San Bentio County Integrated Waste Management directly at (831) 636-4110 or email at sbciwm@cosb.us with any questions.