Dreams has revealed that it has recycled 1.3 million mattresses over the past 11 years through its take-back scheme. This announcement comes as Dreams marks National Recycling Week, and encourages customers upgrading their sleep to dispose of their old mattress responsibly.
Since September 2015, Dreams and its recycling partner Circom have processed 1,306,414 mattresses, equating to more than 42,000 tonnes of material. Laid end to end, these mattresses would stretch approximately 1,533 miles, almost twice the length of mainland Britain.
Part of the challenge is that many British people struggle to know how to dispose of them appropriately, says the retailer. According to Dreams’ 2026 Sleep Survey, only one in three (38%) UK adults take their old mattress to the tip. While the proportion of old mattresses sent for recycling has increased significantly in recent years, the National Bed Federation (NBF) found that only a third (33%) of mattresses disposed of in 2023 were 'really recycled', meaning their materials are successfully recovered and recycled into new materials or products.
Dreams’ recycling service is designed to make it easier for customers to dispose of their old mattress responsibly when upgrading to a new one. Customers can arrange for their old bed and mattress to be collected when their new one is delivered, before it is taken to Dreams’ recycling partner Circom for processing. At Circom’s specialist recycling facility, mattresses are broken down into their component parts, with materials including steel, foam and polyester recovered and given a new purpose.
Dan Parsons, CCO at Dreams, says: “Buying a new mattress isn’t something we do very often, but when the time comes, it’s an important investment in the quality of our sleep. At Dreams, we want to take the hassle out of recycling by making it easy for customers to have their old mattress collected when the new one arrives. Through our recycling programme, we can keep all materials out of landfill.”
Richard Allsopp, director of Circom, adds: “Reaching 1.3 million mattresses recycled is a significant milestone and demonstrates what can be achieved when responsible and compliant recycling is built into the customer journey. Every mattress contains materials with value beyond their first use, and we're continually exploring new opportunities to recover and repurpose those resources. We're proud of our long-standing partnership with Dreams and the progress we've made together in helping to reduce waste.”
The milestone forms part of Dreams' wider Upgrade Your Sleep campaign, encouraging customers to invest in their sleep and wellbeing, and make considered choices when it is time to part ways with their old bed.
