Simmons Beautyrest seeks sustainability

TORONTO — From its pocketed coils which contain recycled steel, to wood sourced from sustainable forests, Simmons Beautyrest uses sustainable materials in making its beds. And their mattress reclamation and recycling initiatives have helped divert more than 2 million pounds of waste from landfills.

“We strive to be as eco-friendly as we can be,” said Christine Pella, national sales manager, Serta/Simmons Canada.

At Simmons Beautyrest Hospitality Bedding, sustainability is not simply an initiative. It’s a defining characteristic of how the company does business. Whether they are involved in product development, manufacturing or logistics, the company always adheres to the principles of sustainability in virtually all aspects of their operations.

ECO Friendly Products

From the springs to the foams and the fabrics, to the wood used for foundations, Simmons Beautyrest sources products with the environment in mind.

All Simmons Beautryest pocketed coil springs contain up to 70 per cent recycled steel. The pocketed coil technology means that each spring continuously and independently reacts to weight and pressure, allowing it to support any sleeper's body shape but helping to prevent motion transfer throughout the bed.

Simmons uses CertiPUR-US certified foams, which means that ozone depleters are not used in manufacturing the foams they put into Beautyrest products. There are no PBDEs, TDCPP or TCEP flame retardants; formaldehyde, mercury, lead and other heavy metals. Simmons Beautyrest products also have low VOC emissions for improved indoor air quality.

Many of the fabrics used in Simmons Beautyrest mattress production are derived from cultivated wood fibres; and the wood used in EnduroTECH foundations is sourced from forests that are certified as sustainable by the Forest Stewardship Council. That wood is 100 per cent recyclable at the end of its useful life.

Many of the fabrics used in Simmons mattress covers meet the Oeko-Tex 100 standard for manufacturing without the use of harmful chemicals.

Zero Waste

Simmons Beautyrest continues to implement best practices and processes that reduce scrap production and recycle materials that would otherwise end up in landfills.

“We are primarily focused on ensuring we get optimal sizing of materials from supplier (wood lengths, tick rolls, foam sizing) so as to minimize the amount of trimming and waste we generate,” Pella said. “Optimizing production flows of materials also helps in managing our waste production.”

Responsible Operations

Simmons Beautyrest strives to implement processes that conserve energy, reduce water usage and incorporate more sustainable materials in all of their products. The company segregates scrap (plastic, wood, steel) where possible. This varies by location, depending on access to the local municipal services.

Efficient Distribution

The company's plants are strategically located to minimize the use of fuel and energy in shipping to hotel customers worldwide. Simmons Beautyrest currently has six plants in Canada: two in Montreal and one each in Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and Winnipeg.

Mattress Recycling

Mattress reclamation and recycling initiatives have helped divert more than 2 million pounds of waste company-wide.

Simmons also has a replaceable mattress top called EverNU, which is available on most Beautyrest mattress products. This allows hotels to refresh their guests' sleeping experience by replacing a mattress' top upholstery layers.

Simmons developed the EverNU mattress top to help hotels get the most use out of their mattresses. The average hotel replaces their mattresses every seven years, and most of these replacements occur because the mattresses' comfort layers have compressed over time. The EverNU top enables a hotel to replace the comfort layers of its mattresses without replacing the beds' Pocketed Coil or Advanced Pocketed Coil springs, which last longer than the fabrics and foams used in comfort layers. Hotels can just replace their EverNU tops to restore their beds' original comfort.

“Customer reaction to all these measures is, of course, always positive,” said Pella. “We definitely use them as a selling tool.”