19 October 2021
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
Cork City Council in conjunction with Waste Enforcement Regional Lead Authorities (WERLA) is facilitating a mattress drop-off day on Wednesday 20th October from 9.00am to 1.00 pm. Householders can dispose of unwanted mattresses for just €5 at a Cork City Councils Civic Amenity site in Tramore Valley Park.
This collection is part of the Anti-Dumping Initiative 2021 and will see all mattresses deconstructed by hand by Cork Mattress Recycling Company. Each year Cork City Council carry out several projects under this anti-dumping initiative programme. The anti-dumping initiative is funded by the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications and its aim is to reduce incidents of illegal dumping using a collaborative approach involving local authorities, communities, and other State Agencies.
Senior Executive Engineer of Environmental Management in Cork City Council, Tony T. O’Sullivan said: “I am delighted to be running another mattress drop off day this month. It is initiatives such as these that help Cork City Council to tackle the issue of illegal dumping in the city. The mattress drop has proven to be successful over the years, enabling the council to recycle unwanted household items in a safe and responsible manner”.
All recyclable materials are properly recycled and re-used where possible. All recycled mattresses benefit various industries for example steel manufacturing, textile manufacturing and carpet manufacturing.This, in turn creates gainful employment and reduces high dependency on landfill.
Once mattresses are deconstructed the components are recycled. The steel bed springs become reusable steel, the polyurethane foam is recycled for industry and the cloth, polyester synthetic fibres are reused as residual fuel disposal for industry.