Project

WINNAAR PUBLIEKPRIJS MatSwap - use your mattress to the fullest

Geplaatst op 1 april 2023, 00:00 uur
Illustration
GO Game Changers Award
Editie 6 (juni 2023)

Team: Riccardo Bonazza, Daphne Gnago, J. Manuel Minano and Bart Verhoef

Arising from a circular economy course project, we observed that, on a global scale, mattresses, which are highly recyclable, are often disposed of before their product lifetime and mostly landfilled or incinerated. At the same time, the lifespan and quality continue to decrease as the high price competition pushes manufacturers to employ lower quality and cheaper materials. These factors pose a great waste management and resources squandering problem, with over 30 million mattresses disposed every year only in the EU. We aimed to understand which role consumers can play in maintaining and enhancing mattresses’ value at the end of their use, while simultaneously creating a circular network that minimizes the current unsustainable mattresses disposal. We hence analysed the value hill of mattresses and interviewed several stakeholders such as hotels, consumers, mattress recyclers, and experts. From this research we recognized an opportunity, as most mattresses are disposed of before reaching their full product lifetime, while consumers are willing to purchase pre-owned mattresses for a discounted price. We hence developed an upcycling business opportunity through an application which meets the offer of high quality non-depleted hotel mattresses, which are professionally cleaned, maintained and refurbished, with the demand of price-sensitive actors such as students and student residences, low-incomes, pensions as well as non-profits. The viability of our project will strongly depend on the collaboration and involvement of our stakeholders; hence we will rely on agile development where our minimum viable product will be optimized through feedback and hand-in-hand work with our customers, suppliers, and partners. MatSwap represents a socially responsible and environmentally conscious business model that brings multiple benefits to society, health and environment.

Faculty: Business & Economics

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