Connecticut Public Act No. 13-42 (HB 6437), an act concerning a mattress stewardship program, was signed into law on May 28, 2013, the first mattress stewardship law in the U.S.
The law requires mattress manufacturers to create a nonprofit stewardship organization ("mattress recycling council") by July 2014 and to design, submit, and implement a mattress stewardship plan and program with Department of Energy and Environmental Protection oversight. The mattress recycling council must provide free, convenient collection opportunities for discarded mattresses, and "recycling shall be preferred over any other disposal method for mattresses, to the extent that recycling is technologically feasible and economically practical." The council must establish a fee to cover the costs of the program, and each retailer or distributor must add the fee to the purchase price of all mattresses sold. The fee must appear on the invoice with a description of the fee, and the council "may establish an alternative, practicable means of collecting or remitting such fee." In addition, the council must also establish a "financial incentive that provides for the payment of a monetary sum… to any consumer who recycles a mattress…" The law also includes reporting requirements and recycling targets.
The bill passed the Committee on Environment March 18, the Committee on Judiciary April 24, the House on May 2 and the Senate on May 16. Visit the Connecticut General Assembly for Bill Analysis. Similar legislation was introduced in 2012 but did not pass (SB 89) - the mattress trade association ISPA opposed in 2012 but supported legislation in 2013.