For the purposes of this section and sections 22a-905a to 22a-905f, inclusive:

(1) “Brand” means a name, symbol, word or mark that attributes a mattress to the producer of such mattress;

(2) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection;

(3) “Covered entity” means any political subdivision of the state, mattress retailer, permitted transfer station, waste-to-energy facility, health care facility, educational facility, correctional facility, military base or commercial or nonprofit lodging establishment that possesses a discarded mattress that was discarded in this state. “Covered entity” does not include any renovator, refurbisher or any person who only transports a discarded mattress;

(4) “Department” means the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection;

(5) “Discarded mattress” means any mattress that a consumer discarded, intends to discard or abandoned;

(6) “Energy recovery” means the process by which all or a portion of solid waste materials are processed or combusted in order to utilize the heat content or other forms of energy derived from such solid waste materials;

(7) “Foundation” means any ticking-covered structure that is used to support a mattress and that is composed of one or more of the following: A constructed frame, foam or a box spring. “Foundation” does not include any bed frame or base made of wood, metal or other material that rests upon the floor and that serves as a brace for a mattress;

(8) “Mattress” means any resilient material or combination of materials that is enclosed by a ticking, that is used alone or in combination with other products, and that is intended for or promoted for sleeping upon. “Mattress” includes any foundation, renovated foundation or renovated mattress. “Mattress” does not include any of the following: (A) An unattached mattress pad, an unattached mattress topper, including any item with resilient filling, with or without ticking, that is intended to be used with or on top of a mattress, (B) a sleeping bag or pillow, (C) a car bed, (D) juvenile products, including a carriage, basket, dressing table, stroller, playpen, infant carrier, lounge pad, crib bumper and any pad for such juvenile product, (E) a product that contains liquid or gaseous filled ticking, including any water bed or any air mattress that does not contain upholstery material between the ticking and the mattress core, or (F) any upholstered furniture that does not otherwise contain a detachable mattress, including, but not limited to, a fold-out sofa bed or a futon;

(9) “Mattress core” means the principal support system that is present in a mattress, including, but not limited to, springs, foam, air bladder, water bladder or resilient filling;

(10) “Mattress recycling council” or “council” means the nonprofit organization created by producers or created by any trade association that represents producers who account for a majority of mattress production in the United States to design, submit and implement the mattress stewardship program described in section 22a-905a;

(11) “Mattress stewardship fee” means the amount added to the purchase price of a mattress sold in this state that is necessary to cover the cost of collecting, transporting and processing discarded mattresses by the council pursuant to the mattress stewardship program;

(12) “Mattress stewardship program” or “program” means the state-wide program described in section 22a-905a and implemented pursuant to the mattress stewardship plan;

(13) “Mattress topper” means any item that contains resilient filling, with or without ticking, that is intended to be used with or on top of a mattress;

(14) “Performance goal” means a metric proposed by the council to measure, on an annual basis, the performance of the mattress stewardship program, taking into consideration technical and economic feasibilities, in achieving continuous, meaningful improvement in improving the rate of mattress recycling in the state and any other specified goal of the program;

(15) “Producer” means any person who manufactures or renovates a mattress that is sold, offered for sale or distributed in the state under the producer's own name or brand. “Producer” includes (A) the owner of a trademark or brand under which a mattress is sold, offered for sale or distributed in this state, whether or not such trademark or brand is registered in this state, and (B) any person who imports a mattress into the United States that is sold or offered for sale in this state and that is manufactured or renovated by a person who does not have a presence in the United States;

(16) “Recycling” means any process in which discarded mattresses, components and by-products may lose their original identity or form as they are transformed into new, usable or marketable materials. “Recycling” does not include the use of incineration for energy recovery;

(17) “Renovate” or “renovation” means altering a mattress for the purpose of resale including any one, or a combination of, the following: Replacing the ticking or filling, adding additional filling, or replacing components with new or recycled materials. “Renovate” or “renovation” does not include (A) the stripping of a mattress of its ticking or filling without adding new material, (B) the sanitization or sterilization of a mattress without otherwise altering the mattress, or (C) the altering of a mattress by a renovator when a person retains the altered mattress for personal use, in accordance with regulations of the Department of Consumer Protection;

(18) “Renovator” means any person who renovates discarded mattresses for the purpose of reselling such mattresses to consumers;

(19) “Retailer” means any person who sells mattresses in this state or offers mattresses in this state to a consumer;

(20) “Sanitization” means the direct application of chemicals to a mattress to kill human disease-causing pathogens;

(21) “Sale” means the transfer of title of a mattress for consideration, including, but not limited to, the use of a sales outlet, catalog, Internet web site or similar electronic means;

(22) “Sterilization” means the mitigation of any deleterious substances or organisms, including human disease-causing pathogens, fungi and insects from a mattress or filling material using a process approved by the Commissioner of Consumer Protection;

(23) “Ticking” means the outermost layer of fabric or material of a mattress. “Ticking” does not include any layer of fabric or material quilted together with, or otherwise attached to, the outermost layer of fabric or material of a mattress; and

(24) “Upholstery material” means all material, loose or attached, between the ticking and the core of a mattress.

(P.A. 13-42, S. 1; P.A. 14-170, S. 1.)

History: P.A. 14-170 amended Subdiv. (8) to redefine “mattress”, effective June 11, 2014.