Willis Dady mattress recycling program provides jobs, works to reduce waste

CEDAR RAPIDS — Most mornings by 8 a.m., Amanda Jones has her box cutter in hand and begins her work deconstructing mattresses.

“Small jobs make a big difference,” said Jones, 44, a Cedar Rapids resident. She typically deconstructs two to three mattresses a day, since starting the job about two months ago.

Jones is one of the employees of a mattress recycling program operated by Willis Dady, a nonprofit homeless services organization in Cedar Rapids. The program deconstructs mattresses, separating the foam and springs to repurpose and recycle the different parts.

Jones, who is living in stable housing, said her work with the program has added skills to her resume.

Alicia Faust, executive director of Willis Dady, said the mattress recycling program is one of several employment opportunities the organization offers to its clients.

The program helps people who have been out of work get back into the workforce. Faust said it also helps clients develop “soft skills,” which include the importance of work attendance, communication and problem solving.

Willis Dady currently has about 12 to 15 mattress deconstruction employees, and each works two to 25 hours per week. The average is 10 to 15 hours a week.

“We work to make it flexible around their schedules,” Faust said.

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Besides providing work for Willis Dady clients, there is another benefit to the program: it creates a more sustainable model for mattress disposal.

In partnership with the Cedar Rapids Linn County Solid Waste Agency, Willis Dady opened the mattress recycling program to the public in July.

When someone has a mattress they want to get rid of, instead of taking it to the landfill in Marion, they can take it directly to Willis Dady to be deconstructed. It costs Linn County residents $10 to drop off their mattress with Willis Dady, while it would cost $20 to dispose of it at the landfill. For every mattress Willis Dady processes through the program, the Solid Waste Agency pays the nonprofit $10.

Residents of other counties can drop off their mattresses at Willis Dady, but they must pay $35 per mattress. Willis Dady is only reimbursed $10 per mattress for Linn County resident drop-offs.

Faust said Willis Dady accepts cash, credit or check payments to drop off mattresses. People don’t have to call ahead of time to drop off a mattress, Faust said, unless they are disposing of five or more mattresses.

While Willis Dady does also work with Iowa City Landfill and Recycling to deconstruct, recycle and repurpose mattresses, Faust said the organization only has a subsidization agreement with the Cedar Rapids Linn County Solid Waste Agency.

Iowa City Landfill and Recycling delivers the mattresses it receives to Willis Dady on a monthly basis and pays the nonprofit for the mattresses they drop off. Faust said Iowa City pays the nonprofit $29 per mattress they drop off.

How it works

After a mattress is dropped off at Willis Dady’s warehouse, 800 First Ave. NW, the employees cut it open, separate the mattresses’ springs, fabric and foam, and place them in different piles to be repurposed or recycled.

Faust said the metal springs are recycled, while the foam and fabric are repurposed for carpet backing.

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All employees in the mattress recycling program are paid. Faust said their hourly wage is currently $12.25, but they are working to increase pay as the program builds financial stability. Wages currently come out of the nonprofit’s internal reserves, but they have received grant funding from the county and funding from an anonymous donor.

Faust said this program wasn’t built out of an existing work model, and is actually the first mattress recycling program in the state.

“We did a lot of research before we jumped in to make sure it was something that we could do long-term,” Faust said. “It's not something that we're going to fill a gap in the community through this program for two years then run out of supply.”

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Willis Dady’s “employment hub” serves as a “one-stop shop” for all their employment programs, Faust said.

Even though the mattress recycling program has been open to the public for just a couple of months, Faust said it had been in the works since 2019.

“2019 is when this idea started of an employment hub, a social enterprise and a supportive housing complex all in one,” Faust said. “It’s just finally coming to fruition.”

Upon intake to Willis Dady, case managers meet with clients to complete a goals assessment. If the client has employment goals, they are often referred to the employment case manager, Marin Noska, who will interview them about what type of employment they are looking for.

Noska is Jones’ case manager and has worked with her for a few months. Noska said that before starting with the mattress recycle program, Jones worked through Willis Dady’s partnership with Frontier Co-op. With the co-op, Noska said Jones worked dumping out cinnamon, then disassembling and recycling the containers.

Employees spend one to two days in a paid training before starting their deconstruction work, Faust said.

Willis Dady recently purchased a bailer to aid their work. Faust said it was paid for by the American Rescue Plan Act grant funded through the City of Cedar Rapids.

Why mattresses?

Mattresses pose unique problems for landfills. They are tripping hazards and they also are highly flammable, Faust said.

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“They're one of the leading causes of fire, injury and death because they take so long to break down, so we’re keeping workers safe as well,” Faust said. “It's an honor to be able to do that and give back to our community in that way, that is also meeting our mission as an organization.”

Joe Horaney, communications director for the Cedar Rapids Linn County Solid Waste Agency, said that when it comes to disposing of mattresses in landfills, they can be a challenge to manage because of the space they take up and how resilient the materials are.

“When garbage comes into the landfill, it gets pushed up [and a] bulldozer pushes it into the landfill itself, and then our compactors drive back and forth over top,” Horaney said. “Compactors weigh anywhere from 91,000 pounds, up to 115,000 pounds. Even with those, they just rise back. They're resilient, so they're just really difficult to manage.”

Horaney said mattresses take up a lot of space in landfills. Concern over the Linn County landfill reaching capacity by 2036 — a projection that was recently moved up eight years earlier than initially anticipated — emphasizes to the need to divert waste from the landfill, especially if it can be repurposed.

So far, between July 1 and Aug. 1, Horaney said 38 mattresses were diverted from the landfill and taken to Willis Dady instead. He called it “a good start.”

Faust said in the two months since Willis Dady went public with its mattress program in Linn County, it has taken in about 100 mattresses for deconstruction. But throughout the life of the program, which includes the mattresses that were accepted from Iowa City before July 1, the program is close to 200 mattresses.

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Willis Dady launched the pilot program with Iowa City in 2022. Faust said that early work with Iowa City Landfill and Recycling led to the partnership with the Cedar Rapids Linn County Solid Waste Agency.

What about mattresses that are still useful?

Although it’s not typical, Faust said that sometimes Willis Dady will receive mattresses that are still in good condition. Those are donated to Central Furniture Rescue in Cedar Rapids.

“If you could give it to a family member or friend, we're gonna say it should go to Central Furniture Rescue,” Faust said.

As they move forward, Faust said Willis Dady is looking to expand the program. That may eventually include a curbside mattress pickup program.

“We're eager to see this continue to grow; we really believe that this is something that can be expanded throughout the state,” Faust said. “We're open and wanting to work with other county or city landfills to be able to provide this as a service for them, and potentially a partnership like we do with our two landfills currently.”

How to drop off a mattress with Willis Dady

The Willis Dady mattress recycling program is located at 800 First Ave. NW, in Cedar Rapids. They accept mattress drop-offs Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.

The cost to drop off a mattress is $10 per mattress. Willis Dady does not accept box springs. Drop-offs that will include five or more mattresses should be prearranged by calling Willis Dady at 319-651-2863.

Olivia Cohen covers energy and environment for The Gazette and is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues.

Comments: (319) 398-8370; olivia.cohen@thegazette.com