AN eco-warrior in Blackburn in leading the charge when it comes to diverting old mattresses away from the council tip.

Bosses at The Furniture Recycling Group (FRG) in Mill Hill reckon they have prevented hundreds of thousands of them from ending up in landfill.

Nick Oettinger, the firm’s founder, has invented a machine which takes a great deal of the elbow grease out of stripping back mattresses.

He estimates that his brainwave could reduced the time needed to efficiently pull one apart by around 70 per cent and is now looking to develop his prototype further.

It is estimated that the technology can dismantle a pocket spring mattresses in just two-and-half minutes.

Under his guidance, their mattresses are separated out into no fewer than 19 component parts, which FRG then looks to find a fresh purpose for.

Last week featured Global Recycling Day and Nick is an evangelist for everyone doing their bit to save the planet.

His venture was named as a finalist in last year’s Businessgreen Technology Awards in the research and development category.

Nick said: “Four hundred thousand mattresses per week go to landfill in the United States, which is almost 21 million per year.

“In fact, the US is on course to run out of room in landfills within 18 years, potentially creating an environmental disaster.

“And countries such as Australia are not much better, with one million mattresses being dumped into landfill sites every year - one for every 24 people.

“This is a very serious international issue, and if we don’t tackle it as a global community, it could spell disaster for future generations, who now face the horrifying prospect of seeing precious green space, beaches and beauty spots piled high with decaying mountains of mattresses and other waste that simply cannot be disposed of properly.”

In the UK alone around 7.5million mattresses are said to be dumped, prompting a major landfill headache on these shores by 2022, it is claimed.

The company, which began life as a EOL Recycling in 2010, has forged valuable working relationships with a number of blue-chip clients, such as John Lewis and St Andrew’s University in Scotland, and they are always looking to get more local authorities and hotel chains on board.

Added Nick: “We are passionate about recycling, and proud to say that companies such as ours are leading the way on a global level. We’d love to see other countries adopt a joined-up approach, sharing best practice and the latest technology with similar firms and initiatives.

“It’s also a good time to call on consumers in this country, to ensure that they recycle their mattresses after use.

“There are several schemes and retailers in the UK that will collect and recycle old mattresses, so it’s crucial that we use those services and stop dumping or even fly-tipping mattresses if we want to continue to lead the agenda.”

One firm with a vested interest in the future of mattresses is Barnoldswick-based Silentnight, which has long since adopted environmentally-friendly working practices to bring its wares to market.

Back in 2017 the West Craven outfit was given a sustainability award by the Furniture Makers Company, the trade’s charity, after staff at their East Lancashire and Aspatria factories achieved a 90 per cent waste recycling mark.

They say all of the leftover wood, foam quilt, foam-free quilt, paper and card, polythene film and metal waste is delivered to local and national recycling companies.