Ikea France, recycling firm Retour Matras, and non-profit organisation Écomaison have established a circular production supply chain to convert discarded mattresses into new retail inventory without increasing manufacturing costs.
The supply chain functions as a multi-stage loop. Discarded mattresses are collected throughout France by Écomaison, a producer responsibility organisation overseeing home products.
The units are then transported to Retour Matras for dismantling to isolate steel, textiles, and polyurethane foam.
The recovered foam undergoes chemical processing at specialised recycling facilities in the Netherlands to generate high-quality secondary material, which is subsequently returned to France for assembly.
This material loop supports the production of the new Ikea Höjehall mattress, which is manufactured using 80 per cent recycled content.
While large-scale mattress recycling historically involves higher costs than using virgin resources, the current operation utilises a French policy mechanism known as an ‘eco-bonus’.
Issued by Écomaison, this financial incentive rewards companies for incorporating post-consumer recycled elements, narrowing the price disparity and allowing the recycled mattress to be marketed without higher consumer retail pricing.
Data from Écomaison indicates that approximately 5 million discarded mattresses were collected across France last year for sorting, reuse, and energy recovery, yielding roughly 80,000 tonnes of metal, foam, latex, wool, and textile materials.
The partnership aligns with Ikea’s broader circular economy strategy, which includes a specific goal to recycle an absolute volume of synthetic foam equivalent to its global mattress sales figures by 2030.
