The City of Greater Bendigo is offering residents the opportunity to dispose of their old, unwanted mattresses for free at a special Mattress Muster drop off event set to take place from 8am to 11am on Saturday November 30, 2024.
Bookings for the Mattress Muster are essential and can be made on the City's website. Places are limited and are only open to residents who live within the City of Greater Bendigo. The drop off location is the City's Depot in Adam Street and further instructions will be provided in your confirmation email when you make your booking.
The Mattress Muster is an initiative of a joint #ParklandNotWasteland campaign between Parks Victoria, Environment Protection Authority Victoria, Conservation Regulator and the City of Greater Bendigo to discourage illegal dumping in local bushland areas.
City of Greater Bendigo Resource Recovery and Education Acting Manager Bridgette McDougall said the cost to dispose of old mattresses at the City's transfer stations and Eaglehawk Landfill Recovery Yard is usually around $40.
"The Mattress Muster is a great saving for residents who have an old mattress they want to get rid of," Ms McDougall said.
"All mattresses will be manually dismantled and recycled into new products.
"Shockingly mattresses are often dumped in bushland areas which is completely the wrong thing to do. The Mattress Muster event will provide an opportunity for people to do the right thing and dispose of their unwanted mattress legally.
"There is never a good excuse to dump rubbish in our bushland areas as most of the items being dumped can be disposed either for free or low cost at the City's local transfer stations or the Eaglehawk Landfill Recycle Shop.
"There is also information on the City's website on the General waste, recycling and organics page about what you can dispose of for free.
"We want people to do the right thing and dispose of their unwanted things the right way. People who dump items in the bush are not only destroying the bush but also risk receiving a fine."
According to the #ParklandNotWasteland campaign data Greater Bendigo is the top regional offender for illegal rubbish dumping in Victoria with around 1400 dumps currently impacting local bushland areas, with more than half consisting of household waste. This includes more than 540 dumps recorded since July 1 - a significant increase on the last financial year.
