Nick Oettinger, CEO at TFR Group, talks about the key benefits behind its Rejuvenation Service.
The Furniture Recycling Group, or TFR Group, is a circular economy specialist, diverting 100% of mattresses produced from landfill in the UK. The company provides mattress recycling and mattress rejuvenation solutions, which includes full logistics and material handling services, creating a circular economy for mattresses and its component parts as a sustainable alternative.
One such option the group offers is its Rejuvenation Service.
“We offer a high rejuvenation rate to online mattress retailers for comfort guarantee returns, helping to protect asset value and revenue from losses incurred, complete with a full and transparent audit trail,” Nick said. “Ancillary items (pillows, duvets, weighted blankets, mattress protectors, mattress toppers and bedding sets) are now able to be rejuvenated, cleaned and repackaged for resale too.”
According to TFR Group, retailers lose around £60 million every single year in returns through its comfort guarantee. “Through our high rejuvenation rate, this helps recoup some of the loss,” Nick says. “We currently process around 2,000 mattress per week and achieve between a 70-80% pass rate. This process is completed by our bespoke sanitisation machine, built by our in-house R&D team.”
With plans to expand the service across the UK and Europe, Nick reveals the finer details of how it all works. “When your customer decides to return their mattress under a comfort guarantee return process, you will you send them into us.
“Your logistics partners can support with quality customer service at the point of collection, to preserve your brand quality and we work alongside the logistics team to ensure they collect the mattress, with each asset wrapped and tagged before being bulked and transferred to preserve asset value.”
The mattresses arrive at its facility, where they are individually put through TFR Group’s bespoke and robust quality assurance process. “A pass/fail criteria is pre-agreed with you to meet the unique needs of each client, and data including photographic evidence is stored and held on a specially designed portal that can be accessed live by each client,” Nick continues.
“Any mattresses that fail will be put through fully auditable recycling processes. Failed mattresses can be resized or repaired to increase pass rate for customers, if applicable.”
Nick added that the company is fully aware that sales profiles on rejuvenated mattresses do not match ones from brands. He said: “We’ve developed the ability to resize removable cover mattresses to match the sales profiles of rejuvenated mattresses.
“The mattresses that pass the set criteria for rejuvenation go on to be completely sanitised in our in-house developed sanitisation system. 100% of the surface area of every mattress is treated and cleansed through our three-process sanitisation system.
“All mattresses with removable covers go through a unique process, with covers removed and washed.
“A final quality assurance check is undertaken after treatment. The mattress is then repackaged with branded labels to customer specifications, then palletised and returned for resale. We also have the capability to roll mattresses too, if required.”
TFR Group, which has delivered an “excellent year of growth”, has seen the demand for its services rise along with the growing movement of reused product acceptance in mattresses. “It’s been an excellent year of growth for us, and we’re looking to build on our momentum, “Nick said. “We’re noticing an increase in the recognition of the revenue that can be achieved for customers through correctly dealing with returns, as well as an increase in acceptance from consumers to purchase reused products.”
As Nick already highlighted, there are key benefits to its Rejuvenation Service that include traceability, brand protection and integrity, as well as minimising loses from returns and maximising revenue. Furthermore, comprehensive data gathering enables analysis of returns, showcasing a more informed insight.
“As a company that pioneers circular economy principals, we’re delighted that Rejuvenation of Mattresses is now becoming the norm and it is allowing customers to purchase good mattresses at a more affordable prices at a time where the cost of living is pushing more people in society nearer to furniture poverty, Nick added.
“Whilst generating needed income for retailers from returns that would otherwise have been a pure cost, circular economy works when everybody benefits, which our service allows. Get in touch with us today to find out more.”
