EUROPE: Accor has partnered with bed manufacturer Hilding Anders International AB to give a second life to beds and mattresses in Spain and Portugal.
The firms worked with Astore Procurement – an Accor subsidiary which provides procurement services to the hospitality sector – to recover a total of 8,500 beds and mattresses from 38 renovated ibis, ibis Budget, Mercure and Novotel properties.
The initiative was able to give a second life to more than 80 per cent of the recovered materials, working with NGOs and humanitarian associations to distribute the items.
More than 6,700 beds and mattresses were rehomed, mainly through charity shops, in-need people associations and homeless shelters.
The groups also worked with humanitarian aid associations Remar and La Nau to send around 6 per cent of recovered beds to support Turkey after the devastating earthquakes which hit the country earlier this year.
Around 49 per cent of reconditioned beds and mattresses were distributed in Portugal, with 45 per cent going to locations in Spain.
Where the project was unable to give a second life to materials – either because of their condition or “unsellable size” – the items were recycled.
Hilding Anders also said it was able to provide five months of “meaningful work for volunteers from various associations” as a result of the partnership.
Astore Procurement said that the initiative “is a testament to the positive change we can drive when we work together towards a greener, more sustainable future and we are looking forward to extending this project throughout Europe and other regions”.
According to the National Bed Federation, around 6.5 million mattresses are disposed of each year in the UK alone. The NBF has a target of 75 per cent of end-of-life (EoL) mattresses being diverted from landfill by 2028, but currently under 25 per cent of EoL mattresses are sent for recycling.
Image supplied by Astore Procurement.