Donegal County Council officials have indicated that a new mattress recycling facility could be developed in Donegal. A submission was made to the government regarding such a facility.
It follows concerns surrounding mattresses requiring transportation to Galway for disposal.
At a recent council meeting Cllr Patrick McGowan asked if the council could arrange transportation for mattresses to be brought to such a facility in Galway.
In a question submitted to a recent council meeting, Cllr McGowan described the current situation for householders as ‘not economical’ and had sought for Donegal County Council to arrange transportation for mattresses to a business in Galway.
In a response, he was told that commercial operators currently make their own arrangements with private sector waste collectors.
Officials said a new facility could be a substantial opportunity for local enterprises, as there are seventy three mixed furniture retailers in the County which could support such a venture.
Donegal County Council currently has six recycling centres, all of which accept mattresses. However, these recycling sites do not have the capacity to store large volumes of bulky waste.
The response indicated that any such development in Donegal would need to be done in tandem with the private sector under the ‘producer pays’ principle.
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Council response in full –
Question asked by Cllr Patrick McGowan
Can the Council come to an agreement with the Mattress recycling business in Galway where the
Council will arrange to collect and transport old mattress to the Galway centre as it is not economical for
them to collect and transport themselves owing to the distance involved?”
Response
Recycling of Bulky Goods and End-of-life Mattresses A Plenary Workshop was held with the Elected
Members on the 29th June 2023 as part of the consultation phase for the Draft National Waste
Management Plan for a Circular Economy. The Elected Members agreed a list of points that should be
addressed in the Draft Plan, including addressing the collection of Bulky Goods and end-of-life
mattresses.
The Donegal County Council (DCC) Environment Office made a formal submission to the
Connaught Ulster Regional Waste Planning Office with suggested improvements to bulky waste
collections through Producer Responsibility Initiatives / Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) – other
examples of such schemes include scrap cars, tyres, waste electrical items etc. The Environment Office
also raised the collection of bulky waste with both the Connaught Ulster Regional Waste Planning Office
and the Connaught Ulster Waste Enforcement Regional Lead Authority (WERLA).
WERLAs drafted a submission in November 2023 on end-of-life mattresses and on the feasibility of developing an EPR
scheme for this bulky waste stream. The submission was made to the Department of Environment
Climate and Communications (DECC) via the Local Government Management Agency on the 9th of
January 2024. Such an EPR scheme would present an opportunity for one or more local enterprises to
commence a full scale mattress recycling facility in Donegal which the seventy three mixed furniture
retailers based in the county could support.
The Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy: Irelands National Waste Policy 2020-2023 states the following, Ireland uses the EPR model for dealing with a number of waste streams and Producer Responsibility Initiatives have been developed based on the ‘producer pays’ principle. The waste streams covered under existing EPR schemes in Ireland are:
•Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)
• Batteries Packaging
• End-of-life vehicles (ELVs)
•Tyres
• Farm plastics
In the interim, Local Authority Civic Amenity sites are a public service and as such
provide a solution for municipal waste, recyclable items e.g. glass, cans etc, and also a facility for
households to bring bulky waste to. Commercial operators bring their waste to private / commercial
facilities and currently make their own arrangements with the private sector waste collectors.
Donegal County Council has six recycling centres, all of which accept mattress. These recycling sites do not have
the capacity to store large volumes of bulky waste. Some of the other authorised private sector waste
facility operators also accept mattresses. Funding has been secured from DECC in the past from the
Anti-Dumping Initiative which offered half price rates for households bringing mattresses to the recycling
centres for a two week period.
-Michael McGarvey Director of Water & Environmental Services
