How to get rid of mattresses cost effectively. That was a topic of discussion earlier this week at the District of Muskoka Council meeting.
With an estimated yearly dumping of 10,000 to 11,000 mattresses, the District is looking at creating a $26 tipping fee to help pay for getting them recycled.
Mattress recyclers charge a refusal fee of $50 for the approximate 2 per cent of mattresses that are not accepted and those costs could be recovered from the tipping fee.
The tipping fee would generate an estimated $195,000 dollars annually.
This would result in the elimination of some seasonal jobs where workers tend to the unstaffed bin sites in the district and replace those with one full-time general labourer tasked with getting mattresses ready for shipping by tractor-trailer.
The diversion of 5,334 tonnes of mattresses per year would extend the life of the landfill by about 40 months.
The Engineering and Public works committee submitted the report to council and is awaiting approval from Council. Should the plan be approved and the committee would initiate a request for proposal to source a vendor for the services.