About Us
What is RAMR?
RAMR – the Register of Approved Mattress Recyclers – has been set up on behalf of businesses and other stakeholders engaged in the collection and recycling of mattresses in the United Kingdom.
It is the brainchild of a steering group comprising two leading UK trade associations, the Textile Recycling Association (TRA) and the National Bed Federation (NBF), a number of mattress recyclers, manufacturers, retailers, waste management firms and local authority representatives.
Together they have established a new company, the Mattress Recycling Association Ltd, which will administer RAMR. The MRA is governed by an elected Council of member representatives. It will in its early stages be administered jointly by the TRA and NBF.
What does RAMR aim to achieve?
It’s been set up to establish a UK-wide register of approved mattress recyclers, which meet or exceed expected, desirable standards of operation.
Diverting discarded mattresses from the waste disposal stream is widely accepted as both desirable and necessary. Mattress recyclers – those that take in, dismantle and pass on the dismantled materials from used mattresses to third parties for re-processing into new products or for valorisation into energy – are vital to this process.
The aim of the RAMR is to help local authorities, public bodies and businesses wishing to dispose of used mattresses to identify responsible, reputable operators which:
Comply with all relevant health, safety, environmental and employment standards and regulations.
Ensure the destinations of the materials they dismantle and sell on or reprocess themselves are transparent, honest and appropriate.
Keep full and appropriate records.
Have sustainable business models.
How will RAMR go about doing this?
We will determine a set of criteria which companies who wish to join the Register must meet – and continually assess the effectiveness and relevance of these criteria
We will carry out thorough checks, including third party independent audits, in order to ensure those criteria are met prior to accepting and adding a business to the Register
We will monitor performance of companies on the Register to ensure those criteria are maintained, carrying out audits and re-audits with appropriate frequency to achieve this
We will investigate in a responsible manner any report from a third party that a member of the Register is not meeting the criteria required
We will maintain an up to date Register of Approved Mattress Recyclers, which will include agreed key details of the business locations and operations such as would be considered essential basic information for customers
We will encourage organisations that supply mattresses for recycling (retailers, hotels, local authorities, waste management companies, manufacturers etc) to work with RAMR-approved recycling businesses.
We will promote the benefits of membership/ certification/ accreditation of RAMR to businesses engaged in the collection and recycling of mattresses
We will provide support to new or existing businesses wishing to join the Register