An Illawarra social enterprise diverting 273,000 mattresses from landfill this financial year is the Australia’s Large Social Enterprise of the Year. The recognition was announced at the national Social Enterprise Awards.
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Soft Landing operations manager Bill Dibley described the journey since Soft Landing was born in Bellambi in 2009 as incredible. It now employs 72 people, many with barriers to other employment, working on 85 contracts in four states. “This Award is a fantastic endorsement of our model, which we have continued to develop, innovate and refine over the last eight years,” Mr Dibley said.
The Social Enterprise Awards run by Social Traders focus awareness on the role and diversity of social enterprises in Australia. The recognition for Soft Landing comes exactly one year after it was acquired from Mission Australia by Community Resources - home of Resource Recovery Australia.
The judges said Soft Landing was recognised because of the environmental benefits its activities deliver as well as the training and employment opportunities it generates for people living in Sydney, Illawarra, Newcastle, Perth and ACT. More than 1.6 million mattresses are disposed of each year in Australia, equating to approximately 1.2 million cubic metres of waste. Being difficult to dispose of, mattresses are often illegally dumped and those that are sent to the tip can create further hazards in landfill.
Soft Landing takes a unique approach to giving mattresses a new life by reusing raw materials within existing markets for steel and foam. It also creates new products from the unwanted components. An average mattress contains 12.5kg of steel, 2kg of wood and 1.5kg of foam. Soft Landing separates the components or recycling and diverts thousands of tonnes of waste from going to landfill.
Co-Founder Andrew Douglas said long term partnerships had been developed with BlueScope Steel and Dunlop Flooring for the steel and foam. “Where we had no market for recovered textiles we developed a punching bag manufacturing machine that could use the textile for fill”.
Last financial year Soft Landing prevented 162,675 mattresses from going to landfill and another 273,000 mattresses will be recycled this year. It presently employs 54 full time and 18 part time staff in NSW, WA and ACT. “Many..had been unemployed for a long time and had told they were no good at their previous jobs or not suitable at job interviews. Our model ensures people with barriers to employment are quickly able to succeed when they commence with us. Soft Landing had created a supportive and understanding work environment. It is now looking to expand into Adelaide, Brisbane and Hobart,” Mr Dibley said.
It is partnering with the TIC Group in Sydney and Melbourne to integrate leading technology into the deconstruction processes. It hopes to divert 500,000 mattresses from landfill by 2020.