The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery has approved a budget and recycling fee for mattress recycling. Fee collection will begin Dec. 30.

The Mattress Recycling Council proposed the budget and fee to fund its California Mattress Recycling Program, which will be known to consumers as Bye Bye Mattress. MRC is a nonprofit organization established by the mattress industry to implement the Used Mattress Recovery & Recycling Act, a law California passed in 2013 that requires the mattress industry to create and administer a program to promote mattress recycling in the state.

As a result of the approval, mattress retailers and other sellers will collect an $11 recycling fee on each mattress or box spring sold to California end-users. The fee applies to all sales of new, used and renovated mattresses and box springs. For these purposes, a mattress and a box spring are each considered a separate unit, and the fee must be collected on each unit.

 To comply with this new law, both brick-and-mortar and online retailers selling mattresses in or into California must register at www.mrcreporting.org. This secure portal allows retailers to submit monthly sales reports and remit collected recycling fees.

The fees will be used to fund mattress collection, transportation and recycling services throughout California. The program also will create a network of collection sites for California residents, hotels, universities, hospitals and military bases and will support a fund to help communities battle illegal dumping.

“Since the law passed two years ago, MRC has been building relationships with stakeholders to bring no-cost mattress collection to communities throughout California,” said Ryan Trainer, president of MRC and the International Sleep Products Association. “It’s exciting to see all of our planning come to fruition. We look forward to helping the state meet its recycling goals and provide Californians with an efficient and responsible way to manage their discarded mattresses.”

MRC estimates that in the United States, at least 20 million mattresses and box springs are discarded each year when consumers replace their old mattress with a new one. This averages about 50,000 units per day.

In May MRC launched the nation’s first Bye Bye Mattress recycling program in Connecticut. Rhode Island has a similar law and expects its program to begin in the spring of 2016. To learn more about these state programs, visit www.mattressrecyclingcouncil.org.