Circular Economy
James - Soft Landing Perth
Closing the Loop on Bulky Waste in Perth
“How do you dispose of a dirty old sofa or a lumpy mattress?” That was the question ABC Perth posed when it visited our Wangara recycling facility in FY26. At Soft Landing, we start with a different question: how much value can we recover?
That means pulling bulky items apart, separating the materials and finding the best available pathway for each one – while creating jobs for people who need them most. In FY26, Perth showed just how far that approach can go.
Taking 100% diversion further
During the year, the Perth team recycled:
XXX mattresses
XXX lounges & couches
XXX whitegoods
diverting XXX tonnes material from landfill
It was also the first full year of 100% landfill diversion for mattresses at Wangara. From there, we applied the same approach into another notoriously difficult waste stream: lounges and couches.
Like mattresses, we dismantle lounges and couches by hand, separating materials including steel, foam and timber and prioritising the highest-value recovery pathway available. Residual material that cannot currently be recycled is processed through Waste-to-Energy. Together, these pathways provide a practical route to 100% landfill diversion for lounges and couches in Perth.
For councils across Perth, these outcomes contribute directly to WA’s target of sending no more than 15% of waste generated in the Perth and Peel region to landfill by 2030.
In Joondalup, where we have worked with the City for more than a decade, we have processed and diverted 100% of mattresses, whitegoods and lounges collected through our on-demand service from landfill since September 2025.
“Our partnership with Soft Landing is bringing reliable, effective recycling solutions to the City of Joondalup, making a real difference for the community. Their dedicated team works hard behind the scenes to keep everything running smoothly, so residents can enjoy a service they can truly rely on. Together, we’re creating positive impacts for both the environment and the wider community.”
Mat Pennington, Manager Waste Services, City of Joondalup
Growing recognition for a circular model that works
Our work in Perth attracted growing recognition during FY26. In September 2025, we received the WA WasteSorted Closing the Loop Award, recognising excellence in putting circular economy principles into action by retaining the value of materials and reducing the environmental impacts of production and consumption.
The award sparked local and national interest in our model. WA Minister for the Environment Matthew Swinbourn visited Wangara to see our work in action, and ABC Perth came to showcase our approach to mattress and lounge recycling and 100% landfill diversion. The resulting ABC Perth Facebook video reached more than 540,000 views, 12,000 reactions and almost 900 comments, prompting an overwhelmingly positive response from people across Australia, with many calling for similar services in communities across the country.
It goes to show what can happen when we keep pushing for better outcomes from bulky waste: more value recovered, less waste in landfill, more jobs for people facing barriers to work and a model that people want to see expanded into more communities across Australia.
WasteSorted Awards 2025
Closing the Loop Award – Soft Landing Mattress Recycling
ABC Perth Facebook | Soft Landing Mattress and Lounge Recycling
In Joondalup, where we have worked with the City for more than a decade, we have processed and diverted 100% of mattresses, whitegoods and lounges collected through our on-demand service from landfill since September 2025.
