Bounce Back Recycling (BBR) is a Traveller-led social enterprise that breaks down mattresses and bulky furniture by hand so their materials can be reused or recycled instead of having to be landfilled or incineratedburned in a heat-to-power factory. It brings together environmental aims (shifting bulky waste into the circular economywhere things after they are used by one person are not thrown away. Instead someone else uses them for another reason) with social goals (training and employing people from the Traveller community).
Where?
Ballybane, Galway but collection around Ireland
Who started this action?
BBR was set up by Martin Ward and the Galway Traveller Movement CLGa Company Limited by Guarantee is one where the owners – usually a community – don’t make profits, but they can’t lose any money over the amount that they put in to set it up and launched in 2017. Keith McDonagh is the current manager of Bounce Back Recycling.
Some quick facts about the project
Many of the main staff and trainees are from the Traveller community,
15,000 tons of mattresses are dumped into landfill waste every year, just in Galway, for about 32,516 mattresses are dumped each year.
BBR breaks down the mattresses by hand and so can get higher-quality material like steel, foam, fibres, wood, and many others.
They now have a recycling depot in Ballybane, Galway where they now also recycle furniture. They also have a fleet of collection vans that collect from around Ireland.
BBR also plants trees as it recycles. In 2022 they planted more than 1,000 for recycling week.
BBR’s fantastic work has been recognised in the national media. For example see this article in the Irish Independent or this one from the Irish Times where Martin Ward says that the travelling community were the ‘original recyclers’.
Highlights Click toggle ⊕ to see these
- Came from the Galway Traveller Movement’s work to give local jobs and new business opportunities
- They did a feasibility studya study into the idea behind a business to see if will work before you spend money setting it up before starting up
- Bounce Back Recycling gives training, work experience and a step on the job ladder people who are disadvantaged
- The project took the approach that a business that had community goals could work and pay in the recycling market
- They do a door-to-door service for homes and businesses.
- You can book a collection service for householders and businesses, and there is also a drop-off spot in Galway.
- They are partners with local councils, hotels, retailers, and ‘civic amenity sites’ (recycling and waste centres).
- BBR gives both deployment and training for the Traveller community: this means jobs, apprenticeships, and ways for people to move up in their work. Because it’s a social enterprise this all happens in a caring a supportive work-place.
- The project helps stop illegal dumping which is very common with mattresses and furniture and similar ‘bulky’ waste.
- It also teaches people about the circular economywhere things, after they are used by one person, are not thrown away. Instead, someone else uses them for another reason. It shares its story around Ireland through presentations, the media and case studies, about how it is a great example of a successful traveller led business.
- It is an example of how to grow a social enterprisea business where the main aim is not to make money. Instead, it is to have good social results – like giving jobs, helping disadvantaged people and being sustainable from smaller beginnings. Starting in Galway now it is in many counties across Ireland.
Why this matters
This traveller-led social enterprisea business where the main aim is not to make money. Instead, it is to have good social results – like giving jobs, helping disadvantaged people and being sustainable example shows a way of making people feel stronger about their culture and be more secure financially. At the same time it gives a real and important service that’s better for the environment.
It knows that hands-on work in recycling a mattress is better and gets more value from it that using a machine. When it comes to recycling and skills, people are better
SDG Alignment & Keywords Click toggle ⊕ to see these
- SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth,
- SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities.
- SDG 12: Responsible consumption and production,
- SDG 13: Climate action
Keywords: Circular Economy, Re-use, Waste reduction, Employment and Training, Galway.
Find Out More about the project
Website: Bounce Back Recycling
Contact them: through the website, but also info@bouncebackrecycling.ie
Website of the Galway Traveller Movement CLG
The Activists’ Take Away
Bounce Back Recycling was set up by The Galway Traveller Movement CLGa Company Limited by Guarantee is one where the owners – usually a community – don’t make profits, but they also can’t lose any money over the amount that they put in to set it up. People think that it is quite hard to set up a community organisation. Listen to Avril and Dara from the Aran Islands Energy Co-operative about how they did it and learn how you could do the same.
The story of a sustainable energy co-op in Galway
Listen on…
Resources from Climate Connected that you can use to do follow this example in your area
Visit our library of community stories
Search Community Stories By Map
