S6419E

Senate Print 6419E, sponsored by Sen. Kavanagh, to amend the Environmental Conservation Law, was laid aside during floor consideration on Calendar Number 1392.

The New York State Senate passed legislation establishing a mattress recycling program under Extended Producer Responsibility principles, with the bill clearing the chamber 41-20 on a roll call vote. Senate Print 6419E, sponsored by Sen. Kavanagh, requires mattress producers and importers to develop and submit recycling plans to the Department of Environmental Conservation, with no point-of-sale fee charged to consumers. The bill addresses an estimated 50,000 mattresses discarded daily in the U.S., with the majority ending up in landfills. Kavanagh noted that three states with operational mattress recycling programs have achieved 74 percent recycling rates and collected 13 million mattresses. However, the bill drew significant Republican opposition, with 20 senators voting against it. Critics, including Sens. O'Mara and Ashby, argued that the absence of a point-of-sale fee—used successfully in four other states and New York's paint recycling program—would disadvantage domestic manufacturers like Sealy in Green Island and fail to ensure foreign producers contribute fairly. Sen. Ashby warned the lack of a fee gives foreign manufacturers, which represent roughly one-third of the market, a competitive advantage. The bill was restored to the noncontroversial calendar after being recalled for amendments requested by industry. Sen. May praised the EPR approach for shifting design responsibility to producers, while Sen. Helming opposed the bill for excluding advanced recycling technologies from its definition of recycling.