§ 23-90-3. Definitions. As used in this chapter, the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:

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

(2) "Covered entity" means any political subdivision of the state, any mattress retailer, any permitted transfer station, any waste to energy facility, any healthcare facility, any educational facility, any correctional facility, any military base, or any commercial or non profit 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 transports a discarded mattress.

(3) "Consumer" means an individual who is also a resident of this state.

(4) "Corporation" means the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation.

(5) "Corporation Director" means the executive director of the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation.

(6) "Council" or "mattress recycling council" means the state wide, non-profit 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 plan as described in this chapter.

(7) "Discarded mattress" means any mattress that a consumer intends to discard, has discarded, or that is abandoned.

(8) "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.

(9) "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.

(10) "Mattress" means any resilient material, or combination of materials, that is enclosed by ticking, 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:

(i) 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;

(ii) A sleeping bag, pillow;

(iii) A crib or bassinet mattress, car bed;

(iv) Juvenile products, including: a carriage, basket, dressing table, stroller, playpen, infant carrier, lounge pad, crib bumper, and the pads for those juvenile products;

(v) A product that contains liquid- or gaseous-filled ticking, including any water bed or air mattress that does not contain upholstery material between the ticking and the mattress core;

(vi) Any upholstered furniture that does not contain a detachable mattress; or

(vii) A fold-out sofa bed or futon.

(11) "Mattress core" means the main support system that is present in a mattress, including, but not limited to: springs, foam, air bladder, water bladder, or resilient filling.

(12) "Mattress recycling council" or "council" means the organization created by producers to design, submit, and implement the mattress stewardship program described in § 23-90-5.

(13) "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.

(14) "Mattress stewardship program" or "program" means the state wide, program described in § 23-90-5 and implemented pursuant to the mattress stewardship plan as approved by the corporation director.

(15) "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.

(16) "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.

(17) "Producer" means any person who manufactures or renovates a mattress that is sold, offered for sale, or distributed in the state under the manufacturer's own name or brand. "Producer" includes:

(i) 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

(ii) 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;

(18) "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 as a primary process the use of incineration for energy recovery or energy generation by means of combustion.

(19) "Renovate" or "renovation" means altering a mattress for the purpose of resale and includes any one, or a combination of, the following: Replacing the ticking or filling, adding additional filling, rebuilding a mattress, or replacing components with new or recycled materials. "Renovate" or "renovation" does not include the:

(i) Stripping of a mattress of its ticking or filling without adding new material;

(ii) Sanitization or sterilization of a mattress without otherwise altering the mattress; or

(iii) 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 business regulation.

(20) "Renovator" means a person who renovates discarded mattresses for the purpose of reselling such mattresses in a retail store.

(21) "Retailer" means any person who sells mattresses in this state or offers mattresses in this state to a consumer through any means, including, but not limited to, remote offerings such as sales outlets, catalogs, or the internet.

(22) "Sanitization" means the direct application of chemicals to a mattress to kill human disease-causing pathogens.

(23) " Sale" means the transfer of title of a mattress for consideration, including through the use of a sales outlet, catalog, internet website, or similar electronic means.

(24) "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 department of business regulation.

(25) "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.

(26) "Upholstery material" means all material, loose or attached, between the ticking and the core of a mattress.

(27) "Wholesaler" means any person who sells or distributes mattresses in the state, in a nonretail setting, for the purpose of the resale of such mattresses.

History of Section. (P.L. 2013, ch. 281, § 1; P.L. 2013, ch. 423, § 1; P.L. 2015, ch. 126, § 1; P.L. 2015, ch. 249, § 1.)