Call for more mattress recycling in N. Ireland
4 July 2011
A mattress recycling initiative by a Northern Ireland firm is being hampered by ‘outdated’ landfill laws, the company has claimed.
Envirogreen Recycling of Coalisland, Co. Tyrone, has worked with a local engineering company to produce a bespoke dismantling machine with a shredding and conveyor sorting system which allows mattresses to be recycled at between 10-15 per hour.
Managing director Conor Guy said he believed the technology is the first of its type in Northern Ireland “to allow old mattresses to be dismantled in such a way that all its components can be recycled”.
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- Envirogreen Recycling is seeking talks with councils. Pictured are sales manager Denise Gibson with (l-r) Ethan Webb and Mark Smyth
“While demand for the service has been good from the private sector,” explained Mr Guy, “ outdated rules mean that it is cheaper for local councils to send mattresses to the already overburden landfill rather than have them recycled. The inherent problem is that councils are charged per tonne of landfill waste and not by cubic foot of space.
“So even though the councils love the idea, it is cheaper for them to landfill mattresses instead of recycling them as they weigh only approximately 20kg each.”
Mr Conor added: “We are seeking talks with local authorities as we would love to catch these mattresses before they get to landfill but there needs to be a change in the current legislation as it is detrimental to increasing recycling rates and it is encouraging councils to landfill rather than recycle.”
Envirogreen has secured recycling contracts from bedding suppliers including Silent Night and Cost Plus Sofas and is also looking to extend its service to the Irish republic. It is currently developing site in Wicklow to receive mattresses and will be installing a similar machine to that in Coalisland.
The mattress recycling is carried out alongside other recycling activities provided by Envirogreen in part to ensure the process is viable. The company provides other recycling services to businesses, including waste paper collections.
Bulk collections are made using a 45ft curtain sider lorry which can take up to 120 mattresses.
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Precise charges for the recycling process have not been disclosed, but Mr Conor said much would depend on volumes although typically a charge of 5-6 Euros per mattress may be levied for the Wicklow facility. Envirogreen Recycling is also launching a used mattress collection service in Dublin this month on a trial basis.
Looking ahead, Mr Conor said that the potential for mattress recycling in Northern Ireland and the Republic was huge. “Every person has a bed and they change it every 8-10 years. In Ireland and Northern Ireland you would have quite a few every year, potentially 600,000 a year.”
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