Mattress dumping 'costs Mayo economy €3m. annually'

Over 16,000 mattresses are estimated to go to landfill or incineration in County Mayo every year, says leading social enterprise, Bounce Back Recycling (BBR).

“It costs around €180 for every mattress that ends up in landfill – an estimated loss of over €2.9m to the local economy,” said BBR administrator Nicola Devers, Ballina.

Nicola says it’s also equivalent to an estimated 400,000 kg of waste “which could be turned instead into 340,000 kg of valuable materials if the mattresses were recycled."

She continued: "We could actually put money back into the circular economy and create green jobs by using the materials we produce from recycling mattresses.

“We have been working with Mayo County Council since 2018 on Recycling ‘Amnesty’ Days.

"In fact, there’s one in Bangor Erris on Saturday next, June 18.

"Householders can dispose of mattresses and bulky furniture for free at the GAA Grounds off the N59, and we remove them then for recycling.”

Nicola said they also offer hassle-free collection services to householders and businesses like hotels and furniture stores throughout Co. Mayo.

“Ireland is fast running out of landfill space and bulky items like mattresses take up too much room.

"A mattress takes around 100 years to decompose, so it makes no sense to send it to landfill. When we recycle a mattress, we recover reusable materials for the circular economy.

“By 2025, at least 55% of municipal waste must be recycled to meet EU targets.

"Furthermore, within 13 years the amount of waste going to landfill must be reduced to 10% of all municipal waste. Bounce Back Recycling can help local authorities to achieve these targets.”

BBR manager Martin Ward stated public and private sectors need to act now to reduce mattress waste and turn it into a valuable resource instead via recycling.

“Householders can play their part too, and we can help make it easier for them to get rid of old mattresses. Many people simply have no means of transporting a mattress for disposal.

“As one customer said, you can’t fit a mattress into a Nissan Micra!”

Martin explains that this is why they offer a door-to-door collection service.

BBR are a social enterprise, so they invest all their profits back into growing their recycling business.

They also provide employment opportunities and job training for Travellers, who face high barriers to employment.

“As our mattress recycling business grows, so will the jobs and training places,” said Martin.

“In addition, we have a genuine and positive impact on the environment. To date, we have helped our customers divert over 70,000 old mattresses away from local civic amenity sites. This is equivalent to roughly 1.75 million kg of landfill waste.”

For further information contact 091 760877 or info@bouncebackrecycling.ie