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06 Sept 2025
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06 Sept 2025
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A call has been made to promote recycling mattresses in County Kildare.
Local councillor Noel Connolly asked Kildare County Council to engage with Bounce Back Recycling - a Galway Traveller movement initiative.
He told a KCC meeting that ”their service should be made available in County Kildare.”
He said the BBR had diverted over 50,000 mattresses from landfill. He said this means that jobs are being created and there is less need for incineration.
He described the issue of dumped mattresses as a “blight on our landscape.”
KCC official Celina Barrett said that KCC stages days when mattresses can be taken to be recycled.
Ms Barrett also said because BBR has a current waste permit, it can provide a service in County Kildare.
She added: “The company is free to engage with the council in terms of its service. Any projects awarded by the council would have to be procured in accordance with the council’s procurement policy.”
According to The Irish times on average some 60,000 mattresses are disposed of annually in Ireland and this amounts to 15,000 tonnes of waste.
Some mattress parts can take up to 100 years to decompose in a landfill and one occupies 23 cubic feet of space.
Martin Ward of Bounce Back Recycling said it processed between 50,000 and 60,000 items in 2023 and it’s hoped to increase that to 100,000 a year within the next three years.
He says all of the metals, like the springs, are recycled some of the foam is repurposed as insulation for water tanks and the wood is turned into mulch.
BBR describes itself as a social enterprise and any profits are reinvested back into community initiatives.
It has a staff of 20 with 17 from the Traveller community.
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