TOWSON, Md. — Critics call it a "sleep tax". Supporters say, it's a way to keep mattresses out of landfills. A bill that would add a fee to the sale of mattresses in Maryland just got one step closer to passing.
It's billed as a statewide initiative to reduce environmental waste. Maryland's landfills are filling up, and bulky items like mattresses take up a lot of space - not to mention the risk of fire, and contamination to the water and soil. And recycling mattresses is labor-intensive, and expensive, so not many local governments have programs in place to do it.
"Nobody really wants to manage them in the solid waste sector," Kitty McIlroy, president of the Maryland Recycling Network, which testified in favor of the bill, told WMAR-2 News. "Recyclers are really hungry for this material, but unfortunately, you know, local government budgets are - they're spread pretty thin right now, so that's what this bill would do would take that financial pressure off of them and fund it under a statewide program."
But if you read the fine print of the legislation, consumers end up stuck with the bill. The law would require mattress producers to develop what's called a "mattress stewardship program," telling the Maryland Department of the Environment how they plan to help recycle and responsibly dispose of the products.
To cover the costs, retailers in Maryland would be required to tack on a fee for all mattress sales.
"You gotta pay to sleep now? I mean this is crazy. It's really getting out of hand," Fred Edwards, manager of Wolf's Furniture in Towson, said.
Edwards says this isn't fair to his customers, who already pay a 6% sales tax on mattresses, and are holding their breath for more taxes possibly coming down the pipe.
"They're fed up with everything. I get consumers that come in here from other stores - I won't mention their names - but they're saying their prices are double what they were last year," he told WMAR-2 News (proudly adding his store is lowering their prices.)
But proponents like the Maryland Recycling Network say, Marylanders could actually see general cost savings in the long run.
"So we're paying for end-of-life mattress management whether we're aware of it or not. These units are coming in every single day to our solid waste facilities. We're paying for that out of our local taxes, or, you know, some sort of hybrid, some facilities have tip fees, even for residents," McIlroy said.
Dropping off mattresses at a recycling facility is free.
"So, yes, you would see that visible fee at the point of purchase of a new unit, but then the actual recycling for the old unit would be covered, so you are getting that benefit," McIlroy explained.
The Maryland Retailers Alliance disagrees with the idea that this will save residents money. The association wrote in a letter to lawmakers, expressing its opposition to the bill: "Though proponents of stewardship programs claim that local waste management costs will decrease over time as more jurisdictions participate in the program, it is unlikely that Marylanders will see a corresponding decrease in their local taxes and waste disposal prices. This will ultimately mean increased household costs across the state as citizens must pay new assessments on particular items in addition to their local taxes and fees."
The association believes this would set a dangerous precedent, "for adding additional fees onto the cost of any items that are deemed difficult to dispose of or potentially hazardous in any way."
Another concern raised is that this program could lead to a "gatekeeping" of the market, making it difficult for companies to remain competitive unless they participate in the program.
Indeed, the legislation stipulates that, beginning a year after their stewardship plan is approved, "a producer or retailer is prohibited from selling or offering to sell a brand of mattress to any person in the State unless the producer of the brand, or a representative organization of which the producer is a member, is implementing an approved Mattress Stewardship Program."
But advocates like McIlroy argue, these efforts are necessary for our state to remain sustainable.
"[Based on]Maryland Department of Environment data, we have 21 years left of landfill capacity in the state. However, when you actually factor in population growth, the, the number is closer to 14 years. So that's a very scary number for solid waste professionals," McIlroy told WMAR-2 News. "If you're having to transfer solid waste to another landfill out of state, that's extremely expensive to do for the most part, and landfill expansions themselves are also extremely expensive and nobody surrounding those landfills wants an expansion, obviously."
The legislation specifies that the assessment fees would be phased out when the program becomes profitable, but "must be phased back in again if the program ceases to be profitable."
The fees would go into effect in 2027, if the law is passed. Beginning in January 2031, there'd be a prohibition on the disposal of mattresses in a landfill or an incinerator.
The bill made it out of the House on Friday. It still has to pass the Senate, but it has a lot of support from environmental groups. The legislative session ends on April 7.
