Over 80% of the UK's textile waste is incinerated or sent to landfill and of the remainder, less than 10% is recycled. In an effort to rescue these fabrics The Cotton Lives On™ Recycling Programme is on a mission to collect and recycle old cottons, and give them a whole new lease of life.
So we teamed up with the programme to develop a unique mattress that is filled and covered with recycled cotton and denim.
The Cotton Lives On™ Recycling Programme
Cotton Lives On™ is a recycling programme funded by Cotton Council International, created to recycle cottons and transform them into something that, quite literally, lives on.
The programme works with several brands from the textile industry, including Frugi, Charles Tyrwhitt and Hush, to set up systems that collect used cotton clothes from consumers as well as offcuts from the garment manufacturing process.
The collected fabric is then processed and turned into soft, fluffy recycled cotton and denim pads that make the perfect filling for our mattresses.
The recycled denim pads are layered together with organic wool and covered with a recycled cotton mattress ticking to make our exclusive Naturalmat x Cotton Lives On™ mattresses.
These are then donated to various charities across the UK that are working to tackle sleep poverty such as Single Homeless Project, Refuweegee and Shelter.
"It's brilliant to be part of a sustainable initiative like this that helps the planet and people experiencing homelessness at the same time. Knowing you have a safe and comfortable bed to sleep in means you can focus on living better and healthier."
- Vicky Ames, Head of Communications at Single Homeless Project
Through this collaboration we have donated over 70 mattresses already, and we plan to increase this number every year.
"So much goes into landfill and what we’re trying to do is make as much use of this natural resource as possible by turning old cotton clothes into something useful that goes back into the community. We are thrilled about the collaboration between the Cotton Lives On™ programme and Naturalmat to create these wonderful rollmats that are given to incredible charities and projects across the UK."
- Kim Kitchings, Sr. Vice President at Cotton Incorporated
“Our dream would be for everyone to sleep on healthy, sustainable materials, but we understand that this comes at a price. This is why by 2025 we have committed to dedicate 5% of our production to making mattresses specifically aimed at helping people and families in need. By working with the Cotton Lives On™ recycling programme, we are well on our way to achieving this goal.”
- Mark Tremlett, Founder of Naturalmat
