UTEC Mattress Recycling is one of the non-profit social enterprises operated by UTEC. Our vision is to expand our customer base to provide more jobs for more youth who are looking to change their lives.

UTEC’s workforce development programming started as a concept following our theory of change process in 2007. UTEC Mattress Recycling, as a social enterprise, began in 2014 when we became subcontractors to Waste Management to provide the mattress pickup service in the City of Lowell. Since January 2014, we have expanded our services to various hotels, colleges, and furniture stores across northern New England.

In 2015, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection selected UTEC as a qualified vendor for Massachusetts Statewide Mattress Recycling Services.

In 2016, UTEC Mattress Recycling was honored to receive the MassRecycle’s Institutional award.

Our Mission

UTEC’s mission and promise is to ignite and nurture the ambition of our most disconnected youth to trade violence and poverty for social and economic success.

Our History

UTEC, founded in 1999 and based in Lowell, was the result of an organizing movement driven by young people to develop their own teen center in response to gang violence.

Our Values

UTEC is a family. We assume goodness behind everyone’s actions. We show mad love, unconditionally accepting each person. We offer everyone a clean slate, never giving up. We carry out respectful curiosity, always seeking out moments to connect. We are sponges, actively seeking feedback. We embody contagious passion in all we do. UTEC is a catalyst. We think big about what we can achieve. We continually chip away, demonstrating relentlessness in our pursuit of positive change. We plant seeds of peace and cultivate trust. We see beyond the mask, knowing there’s always more beneath the surface. We ignite social justice. And we spark sustainability – for our young people, our enterprises, and our physical environment.