[Music] in the race to reduce the trash we produce companies are engineering products to last a lot longer and be greener and more recyclable when they come to end of life basic examples of this include the DraStic increase of rechargeable batteries over disposable ones reusable water bottles and reusable plastic bags however there are still many products that create dramatic issues especially when it comes to the end of life mattresses are one of the most problematic items to deal with in this respect a problem that companies like Anil are Keen to solve around 6.4 million mattresses
are thrown away each year in the UK alone due to their bulkiness they increase the size of landfills by a significant amount taking up valuable space added to the fact that they tend to be made from materials that don't break down easily and can be difficult to separate into component parts for recycling that's if they get to a recycling plant in the first place mattress waste has become so problematic that different institutions have been set up specifically to create awareness of the problem encouraging people to recycle them for example several states in the US have
implemented a m disposal wasteband residents of States like Massachusetts can no longer throw away mattresses like any other trash instead they are pushed to submit them to recycling programs who will ensure the mattresses are properly taken apart and reused specialist companies like the mattress recycling people have been set up specifically for this purpose offering home pickup Services eliminating the difficulty of transporting the bulky items as great as these projects are they don't really address one of the key problems with mattresses which is the initial manufacturer and design numerous materials are sewn and glued together in
a way that's inherently difficult and complicated to pull apart again because most mattresses are made of multiple layers of material they have to be manually taken apart and sorted coconut fiber horse hair polyesters steel Springs and foam all of them must be recycled separately mostly by hand necessitating a lot of hard labor Anil decided to take a different approach to reduce waste they sought to make mattresses that last longer while also being made with less material variety using the high strength low shrinkage polyester threads that were originally used in life rafts and emergency beds they
created the Anil string mattress anil's patented technology uses no adhesives or chemicals just strings and air focusing on both sleep health and environmental responsibility and can claim to be the only string mattress in the world with 14 million of these threads sealed inside an eco-friendly TPU or PVC coating it doesn't have as much variety of materials compared to additional ones this reduces the unnecessary resource waste associated with the production and disposal of latex memory foam and spring mattresses by 85% plus because it's only made of threads and air sealed in an eco-friendly PVC coat theoretically
all it needs is more air to return to being as firm as new it's durability should keep it out of the landfill and stop owners from purchasing another the support system made of strings unlike steel or latex allows for permanent use without oxidation for other types of mattresses there are other methods to regain some use from non-recyclable Material the waste to energy or energy recovery method is used to combat the generation of greenhouse gases in our ever growing landfills trash is burned in special combustion facilities at temperatures reaching around 2,000 de f the combustion chamber
is surrounded by pipes full of water the heat converts the water into steam which is then fed to a massive turbine turning it and generating a lot of electricity the method is not entirely waste free as it results in carbon and toxic Ash but unlike landfills it doesn't produce methane therefore reducing the amount of greenhouse gases created by our trash of course this doesn't reduce the extra carbon and pollution produced during manufacturer in addition to creating less waste the polyester strings from anil's mattresses can be reused as well they can be melted and spun again
into polyester fiber which can then be used to make t-shirts and other clothing recycled polyester takes less resources to make than virgin polyester while maintaining the same quality it takes 59% less energy to create recycled polyester with goals to reduce the CO2 emissions from its production by 32% compared to Virgin counterparts it also means less crude oil and less natural gas being taken from the earth just to make fresh plastic other materials in the mattresses like PVC now have quite robust recycling streams too on top of this anil's mattresses are up to 50% lighter than
traditional products resulting in Energy savings for delivery and shipping removing the environmentally friendly aspect from this design this also represents a unique and clever way product design must be approached in the 21st century using less materials in more novel ways represent a benefit for all whether that be Financial ecological or not straining your back that one time you have to move your bed the Anil mattress also promotes healthy sleep the mattress is inflated with air and the firmness can be adjusted to suit the user's preference along an air controller the controller allows users to adjust
the firmness or softness based on their body condition which is particularly beneficial for those with back pain the mattress promotes healthy sleep by minimizing shifting and distributing pressure to prevent discomfort even for sensitive backs when it comes to recycling we often think of the importance of recycling plastic bottles or utensils but it's often the biggest and most inconspicuous parts of our lives that need the most attention recycling mattresses and choosing more sustainable options would go a long way in reducing the waste that we dump on our planets remember to hit the Subscribe button and ring
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