North Bay mattress drop-off day aims to stop illegal dumping

North Bay is hosting a host a one-day recycling drop-off event Saturday to help residents who need to dispose of old mattresses and box springs.

The event will run from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the North Bay Public Works Yard at 1399 Franklin St.

Any size of mattress or box spring can be dropped off.

A fee of $25 per piece will apply (credit and debit accepted). The offer is only available to residential users.

The city said its Merrick Landfill site ships out truckloads of mattresses and box springs for processing each year as part of the city’s mattress recycling program. The fee is collected to offset the cost of the program, which includes shipping and processing.

According to a post on the City of North Bay’s Facebook page, "The event is aimed at assisting residents to recycle used mattresses and box springs, which can be inconvenient and challenging to transport to the landfill."

The mattress recycling program has diverted approximately 33,000 mattresses from the landfill since its inception.

The mattress and box spring event will run from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the North Bay Public Works Yard at 1399 Franklin St. (Eric Taschner/CTV News)

The mattress and box spring event will run from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the North Bay Public Works Yard at 1399 Franklin St. (Eric Taschner/CTV News)

“Unfortunately, there’s illegal dumping that takes place and this is an idea to curb that mentality,” said Scott Franks, North Bay's manager of roads, traffic and landfill operations.

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“We accept the mattresses here and recycle them properly and this is better for the residents of the city.”

Franks said city data shows that last year, 120 mattresses and box springs were brought in during the one-day drop off event, compared to 180 a year earlier.

The creation of the mattress recycling program was prompted by a 2016 city council presentation by a FIRST Lego robotics team, which found that an estimated 100 mattresses -- which are 100 per cent recyclable -- were going to the landfill each month.