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Why I paid $95 to recycle a mattress — and you might, too

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The author paid a company, Renewable Recycling, to pick up and recycle his queen-size mattress in New York City.

Greg Iacurci

I paid $95 to recycle a mattress.

It may sound odd, silly even, to pay so much to dispose of a run-of-the-mill household item.

But the economics of mattress recycling illustrate why it can be difficult — and costly — to be an eco-friendly consumer in the U.S.

Americans discard about 15 million to 20 million mattresses each year, according to the Mattress Recycling Council. That’s an average of about 50,000 per day.

Most end up in a landfill, experts said.

Mattresses are “one of the hardest things to recycle,” said Alicia Marseille, a sustainability and circular economy expert at Arizona State University.

“It’s a massive waste stream,” she said.

‘It’ll probably be there for hundreds of years’

Mattresses at a garbage dump.

Robert Brook | Corbis | Getty Images

My mattress — a queen-sized hand-me-down from family and probably close to two decades old — was in desperate need of replacement. The average mattress has a lifespan of about 14 years, from manufacture to consumer disposal, according to MRC.

But what to do with it?

I live in Brooklyn, where residents can dispose of a mattress for free as part of routine trash pickup.

As someone who meticulously tries to cut waste in everyday life — avoiding single-use plastics, composting food scraps — it was painful to think of mine wasting away in a landfill.

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“If you put your mattress in a landfill, it’ll probably be there for hundreds of years, just sitting there,” said Meg Romero, the recycling and litter control superintendent for Charles County, Maryland.

Surely, I can find a new home for it instead, I thought.

Wrong.

After two weeks of unsuccessful dispatches to local homeless shelters, organizations like The Salvation Army and Goodwill, and community forums like Buy Nothing and The Freecycle Network, I’d exhausted my patience for a free-giveaway option.

Individuals who donate a mattress to certain groups may be able to claim a tax deduction for its fair market value on their federal tax return. Taxpayers would need to itemize their deductions to benefit.

Did I neglect to reach out to some interested parties? Probably. Might someone else have different results? Yes. But my personal cost-benefit analysis dictated that it was time to ditch donations.

I researched some recycling options, and selected Renewable Recycling Inc., based in East Rockaway, New York. There are few other U.S. companies that do such work, experts said. A directory compiled by MRC lists just 55.

How a mattress is recycled

Mattresses are picked up and placed into a truck to be hauled to a recycling facility at the Prima Deshecha landfill in San Juan Capistrano, California, on March 10, 2022.

Mark Rightmire/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images

More than 75% of a mattress is recyclable, according to MRC. Some companies put it at closer to 90%.

Recyclers strip them of materials like wood, steel, and various foams and fibers, and sell them into secondary markets.

The materials are then re-purposed: Shredded foam and fibers as carpet padding, animal beds or insulation; wood as mulch and fuel; and springs as scrap steel, for example.

“If you can recycle, it will give those materials another life to be used as something else,” said Romero of Charles County, which launched a mattress recycling program for residents on Aug. 1.

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That re-use has other environmental benefits. For example, there’s a reduced need to extract or source new materials for manufacturing, which cuts greenhouse gas emissions and water and energy use, experts said.

Unusually, the Charles County service is largely free for residents. They can bring two items a day — like a mattress and box spring — to the Charles County Landfill for recycling for no charge. Additional items cost $10 per piece.

Residents recycled more than 900 mattresses in September, over double officials’ estimates, Romero said. The county contracts with a Baltimore-based company, Deco Solutions, to manage the process.

Charles County’s motivations weren’t purely environmental, though.

Mattresses are bulky, taking up precious real estate in the county landfill, Romero said.

“A landfill is a limited, finite space,” said Peter Conway, the president of Spring Back Colorado, a recycler based in Commerce City. “They want to put things that break down, things that are easily compactible.”

“Mattresses are kind of the antithesis of that,” Conway said. He expects to divert 8 million pounds of waste from Colorado landfills this year.

Why mattress recycling can be expensive

Shredded old mattress materials.

Guillaume Souvant | Afp | Getty Images

The $95 fee I ultimately paid to Renewable Recycling is “pretty standard” among mattress recyclers, Conway said.

The expense covered mattress pickup from my Brooklyn apartment and transport to the company’s warehouse in Oceanside, New York. (I could have saved $55 by dropping off the mattress myself, but I don’t own a car.)

Spring Back Colorado also charges $40 for each mattress and box spring that a consumer drops off. An additional fee of $60 or more applies, depending on the travel distance, if a consumer asks for home pickup.

Mattresses are harder to recycle than other items like plastic bottles, aluminum cans and cardboard, said Romero, of Charles County.

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“They’re all made completely differently,” Romero said. “There’s no uniform construction, and there are several different types of materials used to make one mattress.”

The process is more time- and labor-intensive, she said. Often, workers must break them down by hand.

For example, cotton remnants must be picked off steel mattress springs before it can be shredded or baled for sale to scrap markets, according to the Mattress Recycling Council. Staples also need to be removed from wood frames before going to market, it said. Each coil in a “pocket coil mattress” is individually wrapped in fabric and must be separated, Romero said.

‘Razor-thin margins’

Additionally, mattress materials yield only “modest revenues” when sold, Reid Lifset, a research scholar and resident fellow in industrial ecology at Yale School of the Environment, wrote in an e-mail.

Those revenues often depend on fluctuating commodity prices.

“We don’t set the price for a ton of foam or steel,” Conway said. “One day we might get 18 cents a pound and the next week only get 10 cents.”

If you put your mattress in a landfill, it’ll probably be there for hundreds of years, just sitting there.

Meg Romero

recycling and litter control superintendent for Charles County, Maryland

There must also be a market demand for those commodities — and sometimes those markets aren’t nearby, adding to shipping costs.

For example, Spring Back Colorado used to send all its foam and ticking to a recycling center in California, Conway said. It cost the company about $2,000 to ship each truck load.

About a year ago, that California partner stopped accepting shipments: Demand had dried up for material, Conway said. He called companies as far afield as Mexico, Canada, India and Egypt to find alternative placement, but ultimately found a new partner in Texas, he said.

“It’s pretty razor-thin margins we operate on,” Conway said.

Spring Back Colorado earns additional revenue from mattress pickups and drop-offs, and from partnerships with businesses and municipalities, he said.

“Someone has to pay,” said Marseille, of Arizona State University. “It usually falls to consumers.”

Consumer fees subsidize recycling efforts

Kosamtu | E+ | Getty Images

Some states and municipalities are making it more cost-effective for consumers to recycle their mattresses.

For example, Charles County, Maryland, funds its fledgling mattress program largely with taxpayer money. About $150 of residents’ taxes are allocated to the county’s Environmental Resources division each year, for services like curbside recycling, disposal of yard waste, oil and anti freeze — and now mattress recycling, Romero said.

Three states — California, Connecticut and Rhode Island — have enacted mattress recycling laws since 2013. A similar program in Oregon is launching Jan. 1, 2025.

The laws require the mattress industry to develop and administer state programs to collect and recycle discarded mattresses for free.

The initiative is funded by consumers, though.

Someone has to pay. It usually falls to consumers.

Alicia Marseille

sustainability and circular economy expert at Arizona State University

Individuals and institutions (like hotels and dormitories) in such states pay a fee each time they buy a mattress: $10.50 in California, $11.75 in Connecticut, $20.50 in Rhode Island and $22.50 in Oregon, said Amanda Wall, a spokesperson for the Mattress Recycling Council. MRC is a nonprofit created by the International Sleep Products Association, a mattress industry trade group, to build and run these state programs.

Retailers forward those fees to MRC, which funds the consumer recycling efforts. Ultimately, the fees subsidize free mattress drop-off and recycling at any MRC-funded collection site in participating states, Wall said. (Recyclers can still charge a fee for mattress pickup, she said.)

The mattress industry has pushed for similar legislation in New York, Massachusetts, Maryland and Virginia this year, and plans to keep working with these state legislatures in 2025, Wall said.

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The laws are an example of “extended producer responsibility” policies states have adopted more broadly, forcing companies to bear some end-of-life responsibility for their products, said Marseille.

Some question whether consumers shoulder too much of the burden right now.

“Companies aren’t making, for the most part, more easy-to-recycle products,” Conway said. “It’s on the consumer to figure out how to responsibly get rid of their items in a conscious way.”

He thinks it needs to be easier and more affordable for consumers to recycle to promote that behavior.

“At the end of the day, if you have two options, and one is throw it in a hole in the ground, and the other is recycle it, 95% of the people will go with that cheaper option,” Conway added.

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Trump administration loses appeal of DOGE Social Security restraining order

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A person holds a sign during a protest against cuts made by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to the Social Security Administration, in White Plains, New York, U.S., March 22, 2025. 

Nathan Layne | Reuters

The Trump administration’s appeal of a temporary restraining order blocking the so-called Department of Government Efficiency from accessing sensitive personal Social Security Administration data has been dismissed.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit on Tuesday dismissed the government’s appeal for lack of jurisdiction. The case will proceed in the district court. A motion for a preliminary injunction will be filed later this week, according to national legal organization Democracy Forward.

The temporary restraining order was issued on March 20 by federal Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander and blocks DOGE and related agents and employees from accessing agency systems that contain personally identifiable information.

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That includes information such as Social Security numbers, medical provider information and treatment records, employer and employee payment records, employee earnings, addresses, bank records, and tax information.

DOGE team members were also ordered to delete all nonanonymized personally identifiable information in their possession.

The plaintiffs include unions and retiree advocacy groups, namely the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the Alliance for Retired Americans and the American Federation of Teachers. 

“We are pleased the 4th Circuit agreed to let this important case continue in district court,” Richard Fiesta, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, said in a written statement. “Every American retiree must be able to trust that the Social Security Administration will protect their most sensitive and personal data from unwarranted disclosure.”

The Trump administration’s appeal ignored standard legal procedure, according to Democracy Forward. The administration’s efforts to halt the enforcement of the temporary restraining order have also been denied.

“The president will continue to seek all legal remedies available to ensure the will of the American people is executed,” Liz Huston, a White House spokesperson, said via email.

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The Social Security Administration did not respond to a request from CNBC for comment.

Immediately after the March 20 temporary restraining order was put in place, Social Security Administration Acting Commissioner Lee Dudek said in press interviews that he may have to shut down the agency since it “applies to almost all SSA employees.”

Dudek was admonished by Hollander, who called that assertion “inaccurate” and said the court order “expressly applies only to SSA employees working on the DOGE agenda.”

Dudek then said that the “clarifying guidance” issued by the court meant he would not shut down the agency. “SSA employees and their work will continue under the [temporary restraining order],” Dudek said in a March 21 statement.

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Most credit card users carry debt, pay over 20% interest: Fed report

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Julpo | E+ | Getty Images

Many Americans are paying a hefty price for their credit card debt.

As a primary source of unsecured borrowing, 60% of credit cardholders carry debt from month to month, according to a new report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

At the same time, credit card interest rates are “very high,” averaging 23% annually in 2023, the New York Fed found, also making credit cards one of the most expensive ways to borrow money.

“With the vast majority of the American public using credit cards for their purchases, the interest rate that is attached to these products is significant,” said Erica Sandberg, consumer finance expert at CardRates.com. “The more a debt costs, the more stress this puts on an already tight budget.”

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Most credit cards have a variable rate, which means there’s a direct connection to the Federal Reserve’s benchmark. And yet, credit card lenders set annual percentage rates well above the central bank’s key borrowing rate, currently targeted in a range between 4.25% to 4.5%, where it has been since December.

Following the Federal Reserve’s rate hike in 2022 and 2023, the average credit card rate rose from 16.34% to more than 20% today — a significant increase fueled by the Fed’s actions to combat inflation.

“Card issuers have determined what the market will bear and are comfortable within this range of interest rates,” said Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree.

APRs will come down as the central bank reduces rates, but they will still only ease off extremely high levels. With just a few potential quarter-point cuts on deck, APRs aren’t likely to fall much, according to Schulz.

Credit card debt?

Despite the steep cost, consumers often turn to credit cards, in part because they are more accessible than other types of loans, Schulz said. 

In fact, credit cards are the No. 1 source of unsecured borrowing and Americans’ credit card tab continues to creep higher. In the last year, credit card debt rose to a record $1.21 trillion.

Because credit card lending is unsecured, it is also banks’ riskiest type of lending.

“Lenders adjust interest rates for two primary reasons: cost and risk,” CardRates’ Sandberg said.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s research shows that credit card charge-offs averaged 3.96% of total balances between 2010 and 2023. That compares to only 0.46% and 0.43% for business loans and residential mortgages, respectively.

As a result, roughly 53% of banks’ annual default losses were due to credit card lending, according to the NY Fed research.

“When you offer a product to everyone you are assuming an awful lot of risk,” Schulz said.

Further, “when times get tough they get tough for most everybody,” he added. “That makes it much more challenging for card issuers.”

The best way to pay off debt

The best move for those struggling to pay down revolving credit card debt is to consolidate with a 0% balance transfer card, experts suggest.

“There is enormous competition in the credit card market,” Sandberg said. Because lenders are constantly trying to capture new cardholders, those 0% balance transfer credit card offers are still widely available.

Cards offering 12, 15 or even 24 months with no interest on transferred balances “are basically the best tool in your toolbelt when it comes to knocking down credit card debt,” Schulz said. “Not accruing interest for two years on a balance is pretty hard to argue with.”

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The 60/40 portfolio may no longer represent ‘true diversification’: Fink

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Andrew Ross Sorkin speaks with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink during the New York Times DealBook Summit in the Appel Room at the Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on Nov. 30, 2022.

Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images

It may be time to rethink the traditional 60/40 investment portfolio, according to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink.

In a new letter to investors, Fink writes the traditional allocation comprised of 60% stocks and 40% bonds that dates back to the 1950s “may no longer fully represent true diversification.”

“The future standard portfolio may look more like 50/30/20 — stocks, bonds and private assets like real estate, infrastructure and private credit.” Fink writes.

Most professional investors love to talk their book, and Fink is no exception. BlackRock has pursued several recent acquisitions — Global Infrastructure Partners, Preqin and HPS Investment Partners — with the goal of helping to increase investors’ access to private markets.

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The effort to make it easier to incorporate both public and private investments in a portfolio is analogous to index versus active investments in 2009, Fink said.

Those investment strategies that were then considered separately can now be blended easily at a low cost.

Fink hopes the same will eventually be said for public and private markets.

Yet shopping for private investments now can feel “a bit like buying a house in an unfamiliar neighborhood before Zillow existed, where finding accurate prices was difficult or impossible,” Fink writes.

60/40 portfolio still a ‘great starting point’

After both stocks and bonds saw declines in 2022, some analysts declared the 60/40 portfolio strategy dead. In 2024, however, such a balanced portfolio would have provided a return of about 14%.

“If you want to keep things very simple, the 60/40 portfolio or a target date fund is a great starting point,” said Amy Arnott, portfolio strategist at Morningstar.

If you’re willing to add more complexity, you could consider smaller positions in other asset classes like commodities, private equity or private debt, she said.

However, a 20% allocation in private assets is on the aggressive side, Arnott said.

The total value of private assets globally is about $14.3 trillion, while the public markets are worth about $247 trillion, she said.

For investors who want to keep their asset allocations in line with the market value of various asset classes, that would imply a weighting of about 6% instead of 20%, Arnott said.

Yet a 50/30/20 portfolio is a lot closer to how institutional investors have been allocating their portfolios for years, said Michael Rosen, chief investment officer at Angeles Investments.

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The 60/40 portfolio, which Rosen previously said reached its “expiration date,” hasn’t been used by his firm’s endowment and foundation clients for decades.

There’s a key reason why. Institutional investors need to guarantee a specific return, also while paying for expenses and beating inflation, Rosen said.

While a 50/30/20 allocation may help deliver “truly outsized returns” to the mass retail market, there’s also a “lot of baggage” that comes with that strategy, Rosen said.

There’s a lack of liquidity, which means those holdings aren’t as easily converted to cash, Rosen said.

What’s more, there’s generally a lack of transparency and significantly higher fees, he said.

Prospective investors should be prepared to commit for 10 years to private investments, Arnott said.

And they also need to be aware that measurement issues with asset classes like private equity means past performance data may not be as reliable, she said.

For the average person, the most likely path toward tapping into private equity will be part of a 401(k) plan, Arnott said. So far, not a lot of companies have added private equity to their 401(k) offerings, but that could change, she said.

“We will probably see more plan sponsors adding private equity options to their lineups going forward,” Arnott said.

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