Project: Bringing the Circular Economy to the Mattress Industry
Team Members:
Christopher Moken, Project Lead
Summary:
Over 50,000 mattresses are disposed of across the U.S every day. That's about 1,500 tons a day. Most end up in landfills or incinerators. The solution, find innovative ways to recycle old mattresses and design a mattress with circularity in mind. The goal of this project is to approach the solution from both ends. Already have a working MVP dog bed made from recycled memory foam mattresses. Sold a few and are exploring vacuum sealing the final product to reduce shipping cost and trying to tackle scaling issues.
During this hackathon, I was able to speak with great mentors (thank you staff for making that possible) that helped me identify ways to scale the already created MVP, dog beds made from recycled memory foam mattresses. With their help, I identified the most pressing skills and resources needed to grow and scale the MVP. Those are listed in the next answer. Most important, everyone loved the MVP and the idea. Plus, having already sold a few beds doesn't hurt. Proof of concept has been proven.
Sustainable Development Goals:
Sustainable Cities and Communities
Responsible Consumption and Production
Life on Land
Skills & Resources Needed:
Connections with the mattress companies that make and sell memory foam mattresses direct to consumer. Would like to be able to get the mattress returns that the companies don't actually take back from customers, which are a lot. Would like to mass produce alternative products from these mattresses, including more dog beds. It's a win for the manufacturer b/c their product is recycled and not resold as a mattress.
Connections with textile/sewing manufacturers in major cities. Want to partner with them to help scale the production of dog beds, and in the future other items. Need on the ground existing partners to increase agility and reduce overhead. Plus, mattress recycling works best by recycling them locally, within 50-100 miles of a major metro area. Shipping them is costly. Need to keep it low.
E-commerce web developer to help modify existing website content with an emphasis on selling our products.
Help sourcing more sustainable materials to create the dog beds and other items.
Connections with chemical engineers and designers to create a 100% zero-waste mattress that is cost-effective and competitive in the open-market.
Working with a University on this would be amazing.
Post-Capsule Goals:
Incubator Program
Accelerator Program
University Partnership or Collaboration
Private Research Program
Project Motivation:
Christopher Moken worked at a food bank several years ago and witnessed massive amounts of food waste. Since that time, they have been searching for ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle as a way to create a zero-waste society. Moken saw a lot of mattresses on the curb during bulk collection in their community. After that, Moken formed a nonprofit to recycle mattresses. They had some fundraising success and raised $14,000 at Philanthropitch San Antonio, TX. Pivoting to a social impact business model because the nonprofit model isn't aggressive or impactful enough. The initiative needs a for-profit model to scale with outside investments. Currently, Moken works as the Solid Waste Management Coordinator for the Alamo Area Council of Governments and coordinate TCEQ and USDA grants across 13 counties. They see first hand every day how little local government and businesses care about recycling let alone sustainability.