Householders
Choose a Mattress Retailer that Recycles
The Mattress Problem
An estimated 600,000 mattresses are dumped in Ireland every year, which costs around €100m to the Irish economy. There is a huge environmental cost too – mattresses are bulky, use a lot of landfill space and take around 100 years to decompose.
Ireland needs to stop dumping mattresses in landfill and recycle them instead, to boost the circular economy. Consumer interest in eco-friendly options for mattress disposal is growing.
Buying a New Mattress?
You can play your part by purchasing your new mattress from a retailer who will recycle – not dump – your old one!
Choose a retailer who has been awarded a Retailer Recycling Certificate from Bounce Back Recycling (BBR). Why? Because BBR recycle by hand and recover more reusable materials from each mattress they recycle as a result. That’s better for the environment and our circular economy.
Since 2017, Bounce Back Recycling (BBR) has diverted over 120,000 mattresses from landfill and re-used the extracted materials. We actively educate retailers, councils and the public about the responsible recycling of mattresses and the circular economy.
We developed the BBR Retailer Recycling Certificate to reward responsible retailers and let consumers know they recycle old mattresses responsibly. Our Retailer Recycling Certificate is a definitive statement of a business’s commitment to sustainability.
You can make an informed decision to buy your mattress from a responsible retailer.
Before you buy a new mattress, ask the retailer if they:
1. Will take your old mattress back for recycling
2. Have gained the BBR Retailer Recycling Cert
How Bounce Back Recycling Helps You, the Environment & the Economy
BBR offer a drop off facility and collection services to retailers, householders, hospitality businesses and local authorities in 13 counties. This helps county councils and businesses achieve EU targets on waste and recycling in line with the National Waste Plan.
By 2025, at least 55% of municipal waste must be recycled to meet EU targets. Furthermore, by 2034, landfill must be reduced to 10% of all municipal waste.
Our team are skilfully trained to break down mattresses by hand to ensure the maximum number of components are recycled. Soft materials are used for making carpet underlay. Metal springs are recycled for use by companies like Galway Metal. BBR eventually plans to expand its successful, sustainable practice to all 26 counties.
Furniture Retailers
Retailer Recycling Cert
Partners?
BBR will promote your business as a responsible recycling retailer by:
- Official presentation of BR Retailer Recycling Certificate with photograph
- Promotion online and to local media of the awarding of the certificate
- Inclusion in a map of certified retailers on BB’s website
Benefits for You
- Integrates recycling into your business ahead of approaching mandatory EPR requirements.
- You receive an official Retailer Recycling Certificate with your business name to display on your premises and a web version.
- Creates evidence of your commitment to sustainable practices for consumers and suppliers.
- A competitive advantage to promote to your target market on-site, online and in the media, as consumer interest in eco-friendly options disposal is growing.
- Better choice for shoppers, if you can take their old mattress when they buy a new mattress from you.
How to Apply
If you are a retailer who is already actively recycling with BBR, please email Nicola at info@bouncebackrecycling.ie with the business name as you would like it to appear on the certificate.
If you are a retailer who is not actively recycling with BBR, please call Nicola on 091 760877 to discuss working together.
Your store can be a better choice for shoppers, if you can take their old mattress when they buy a new mattress from you. It saves householders the challenging task of trying to get a bulky old mattress to a local civic amenity site. But Bounce Back Recycling has a wider environmental appeal too, because we deconstruct the mattresses by hand. This produces a higher rate and quality of recovered materials than mechanical recycling does.
Under our mattress recycling service to furniture retailers we:
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- Remove old mattresses from your store location
- Collect regularly every month or on demand
- Provide a container on site for storing mattresses awaiting collection, if required, for your convenience.
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We already partner with retailers like Harvey Norman to provide this service. To date, we have helped them recycle over 80 tonnes of old mattresses and bed bases from just 3 of their stores. This diverts the mattresses and bed bases away from local civic amenity sites. So, these bulky items are not going to landfill, which is great for our environment.
Why It’s Important to Recycle Mattresses
Mattresses that end up in landfill take up to 100 years to fully decompose. They only start to decompose after 15 years, and steel springs take over 50 years to decompose. But elements such as polyurethane foam (PU) can take up to 100 years to decompose.
It costs around €180 to send just one mattress to landfill, because they take so long to decompose, and it costs so much to maintain landfill sites. In County Galway alone, around 32,500 mattresses go to landfill or incineration in every year – an estimated loss of over €5.8m to the local economy. If even half of those mattresses were recycled instead, that’s a saving of almost €3m to our economy.
There are environmental savings too. Recycling reduces the demand for landfill which helps protect our forests, rivers, lakes and wetlands, which are natural habitats for wildlife.
Get in Touch
If you like to hear more about how we can help your furniture store or chain, contact us here or phone us on 091 760877
Case Study: Harvey Norman
Bounce Back Recycling has been working with Harvey Norman stores in Cork, Galway and Sligo since 2022. They collect old mattresses from their customers in these areas when they deliver the new ones to them. Then we collect all these old mattresses from the Harvey Norman store and remove them for recycling.
The mattresses are recycled at our depot in Galway. All mattresses are taken apart by hand and all materials are either re-used or disposed of ethically. The materials recovered from our recycling process can be used for a range of other products. These include using soft materials for making carpet underlay, and potentially, home insulation products. The metal springs can be recycled for use in the steel industry.
General Manager of Harvey Norman’s bedding department, Robbie Auckram, says their joint recycling efforts with BBR are worth over €625,000 to the local economy. “We have been working with BBR since June 2022 and are delighted with the results. Our stores in Galway, Sligo and Cork now use BBR to collect mattresses and recycle them. This means customers can have their old mattresses collected when they are receiving new ones. It also means our customers know their old mattresses are being disposed of in a sustainable manner.”
Do You Have Any Questions?
Get in touch with us
Furniture Retailers
Your store can be a better choice for shoppers, if you can take their old mattress when they buy a new mattress from you. It saves householders the challenging task of trying to get a bulky old mattress to a local civic amenity site. But Bounce Back Recycling has a wider environmental appeal too, because we deconstruct the mattresses by hand. This produces a higher rate and quality of recovered materials than mechanical recycling does.
Under our mattress recycling service to furniture retailers we:
- Remove old mattresses from your store location
- Collect regularly every month or on demand
- Provide a container on site for storing mattresses awaiting collection, if required, for your convenience.
We already partner with retailers like Harvey Norman to provide this service. To date, we have helped them recycle over 80 tonnes of old mattresses and bed bases from just 3 of their stores. This diverts the mattresses and bed bases away from local civic amenity sites. So, these bulky items are not going to landfill, which is great for our environment.
Why It’s Important to Recycle Mattresses
Mattresses that end up in landfill take up to 100 years to fully decompose. They only start to decompose after 15 years, and steel springs take over 50 years to decompose. But elements such as polyurethane foam (PU) can take up to 100 years to decompose.
It costs around €180 to send just one mattress to landfill, because they take so long to decompose, and it costs so much to maintain landfill sites. In County Galway alone, around 32,500 mattresses go to landfill or incineration in every year – an estimated loss of over €5.8m to the local economy. If even half of those mattresses were recycled instead, that’s a saving of almost €3m to our economy.
There are environmental savings too. Recycling reduces the demand for landfill which helps protect our forests, rivers, lakes and wetlands, which are natural habitats for wildlife.
Get in Touch
If you like to hear more about how we can help your furniture store or chain, contact us here or phone us on 091 760877
Case Study: Harvey Norman
Bounce Back Recycling has been working with Harvey Norman stores in Cork, Galway and Sligo since 2022. They collect old mattresses from their customers in these areas when they deliver the new ones to them. Then we collect all these old mattresses from the Harvey Norman store and remove them for recycling.
The mattresses are recycled at our depot in Galway. All mattresses are taken apart by hand and all materials are either re-used or disposed of ethically. The materials recovered from our recycling process can be used for a range of other products. These include using soft materials for making carpet underlay, and potentially, home insulation products. The metal springs can be recycled for use in the steel industry.
General Manager of Harvey Norman’s bedding department, Robbie Auckram, says their joint recycling efforts with BBR are worth over €625,000 to the local economy. “We have been working with BBR since June 2022 and are delighted with the results. Our stores in Galway, Sligo and Cork now use BBR to collect mattresses and recycle them. This means customers can have their old mattresses collected when they are receiving new ones. It also means our customers know their old mattresses are being disposed of in a sustainable manner.”
Do You Have Any Questions?
Get in touch with us
Hotels & Hospitality
Easy Ways to Recycle Your Hotel Mattresses
Getting rid of bulky waste like mattresses can be very demanding and costly for hotels. Using Bounce Back Recycling can save you time, money and enhance your reputation as a ‘green business’. Our sales team can work with you on flat rate pricing, depending on your recycling requirements.
Furthermore, EU directives may soon legally require hotels to dispose of mattresses in an environmentally acceptable way. This means ensuring that bulky waste does not go to landfill or incinerator but is recycled for use in the circular economy instead.
Our Hassle-Free Hotel Mattress Recycling Service
We can collect old mattresses and furniture items from your hotel or accommodation service. This is cheaper than sending them to a civic amenity site. Under our mattress recycling service to hotels, we provide all the support you need to remove and transport mattresses from your hotel:
- We provide the transport to remove bulk waste from your hotel or storage location
- We collect on a regular basis or as required
- Our staff are on hand to work with you on removal day
We already partner with hospitality and accommodation providers to provide this service.
Get in Touch
If you like to hear more about how we can help you, contact us here or phone us on 091 760877
Householders
Bounce Back Recycling can save you time, money and help the environment if you choose our services to recycle your bulky waste items. Our team deconstruct the mattresses by hand, producing a higher rate of recovered materials for the circular economy.
Our service:
- Simply drop off your old mattress or furniture item to our facility at the address below:
Bounce Back Recycling
Unit 4, Ballybrit Industrial Est. Upper
Galway
H91 AF30
- You can book a collection direct from your address at www.bouncebackrecycling.ie or by phone on 091 760877.
To date, we have helped our customers divert over 70,000 bulky waste items away from landfill or incineration. This ensures a cleaner and greener Ireland!
If you have any queries or would like to make a booking you can reach us below:
Email: info@bouncebackrecycling.ie
Phone: 091 760877
Local Authorities & Civic Amenity Sites
Bounce Back Recycling can help you reduce the level of waste going to landfill in your local authority area. Mattresses account for, on average 15 million kg or 15,000 tons of landfill waste per year.
Diverting mattresses from landfill/incineration and recycling is good waste management practice and it is good for the environment. It also helps local authorities to meet national and EU targets on recycling. For example, the recycling of municipal waste must be increased to 55% by 2025.
Also, under Ireland’s Landfill Directive, no more than 10% of Municipal Waste can go to landfill by 2035. Taking bulky items like mattresses out of the mix will support local authorities to achieve these targets.
Our mattress recycling service to local authorities:
- Remove mattresses from your civic amenity sites
- Collect them on regular monthly or weekly dates or as required
- We can provide a container on site for mattress storage, to avoid contamination with general waste
We already partner with a number of local authorities to deliver this service and to deliver mattress and furniture amnesty days under the anti-dumping initiative. To date, we have recycled over 70,000 bulky waste items. This helps to fulfil waste reduction and recycling targets.
Bounce Back Recycling has a wider environmental appeal as our team deconstruct the mattresses by hand. This produces a higher rate and quality of recovered materials for use in the circular economy.
If you would like to hear more about how we can help your local authority, contact us here , email info@bouncebackrecycling.ie or phone us on 091 760877.
Roscommon Council
Bounce Back Recycling have been working with Roscommon County Council since 2017 to help them to divert bulky items away from landfill.
What We Offer Roscommon County Council:
- Provide containers for bulky waste at 3 Civic Amenity Sites
- These containers can take discarded mattresses and bulky furniture
- We collect these containers when requested by the team at the sites
- We recycle the mattresses and furniture so they do not go to landfill/incineration
Environmental Benefits
Mattresses, in particular, cause many problems in landfill where they may take up to 100 years to decompose. Recycling mattresses reduces the level of waste taking up space in landfill sites. But we also recycle effectively, because we deconstruct the mattresses by hand. This produces a higher rate and quality of recovered materials than mechanical recycling does. So, when we dismantle and recycle, we recover higher quantities of valuable metals, wood and fabric for future re-use.
Social Benefits
BBR is a profitable recycling business, but we are also a social enterprise. This means we re-invest our profits so we can grow the business for social good and have clear social aims. Specifically, we deliver social, environmental and societal impacts that make economic sense. We provide employment and career progression opportunities for people who face disadvantages in the labour market.
Economic Benefits
We install containers on-site at civic amenity centres, so they can be easily accessed by householders in the locality. We also provide a collection service to prevent the dumping of bulky items in the natural
environment. This can reduce the significant clean-up costs involved in maintaining landfill sites. In addition, the avoided landfill gate fees plus the avoided use of landfill void saves c.€180 per mattress in landfill space, maintenance & staffing costs.