From the Winnipeg Free Press:

Imagine a Winnipeg in which 40,000 mattresses a year don’t clog up the landfill or go up in flames in your back lane.

Imagine a Winnipeg in which those mattresses get recycled while creating dozens of jobs for indigenous young people.

You don’t need to imagine any longer, Jobs and The Economy Minister Kevin Chief declared today.

Mother Earth Recycling and IKEA have formed a partnership backed with more than $250,000 of provincial money and the support of Take Pride Winnipeg, to recycle used mattresses while training young workers for their first job. The company said today that it’s a first for IKEA.

“There’s incredible potential,” Chief said today at Mother Earth’s large new digs at 771 Main St. just north of the Higgins underpass.

Anyone who buys a new mattress from IKEA can have a used mattress delivered to Mother Earth for just $10.

“They’ve made a decision to work with a smaller indigenous-owned business in Winnipeg’s North End,” Chief told a news conference. “A lot of people in this neighbourhood are going to get a job through this.”

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