Soft Landing Mattress Recycling

A word from the General Manager

In FY26, we recycled 369,501 mattresses, diverting 7,610 tonnes of material from landfill and recovering 4,471 tonnes of steel, 929 tonnes of foam and 664 tonnes of timber for reuse, recycling and recovery. We continued to innovate, finding new ways to improve recovery, diversion and circular outcomes for challenging bulky waste streams.

During the year we:

• Invested in Australia’s first Pocket Spring Recycler, helping address one of the fastest-growing challenges facing mattress recycling.
• Achieved 100% landfill diversion at our Perth and Smithfield sites by combining higher-value reuse and recycling with Waste-to-Energy pathways for 1,546 tonnes of residual mattress textiles.
• Expanded this approach beyond mattresses in Perth, achieving 100% diversion for lounges and couches.

Through our hands-on recycling model, we created employment opportunities for 212 people, with more than 75% of our workforce having experienced barriers to employment before joining us. Our partnerships with Corrective Services NSW and ACT Corrective Services created more than 1,200 days of paid employment for people preparing to transition back into the community.

As our social enterprise has grown, maintaining safe, reliable and efficient operations remains a priority. In FY26, we continued to strengthen our systems and processes through the Toyota Production System and achieved ISO certification across Quality Management, Environmental Management and Occupational Health and Safety, demonstrating our commitment to continuous improvement and the safety and wellbeing of our people.

It was great to see growing recognition of Soft Landing’s circular economy outcomes and the impact of our social enterprise model. Soft Landing took home the gold at the WA WasteSorted Awards in the Closing the Loop category and was named a finalist in the WA Social Enterprise Awards. We were also invited to share our experience with the waste and resource recovery sector, including presentations at Waste 2026 in Coffs Harbour and the Future Waste Resources Symposium in Brisbane.

I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved this year. But most importantly, I’m proud of our people. The culture we have built is one where people are supported to learn, contribute and succeed, and where kindness and respect for one another remain central to how we work. Thank you to every member of the Soft Landing team for your commitment this year. Thank you also to our council, retail and industry partners for your ongoing support and collaboration.

I’m looking forward to a successful 16th year for Soft Landing – another year of innovation, growth and tackling Australia’s biggest waste challenges together.

SOFT LANDING GENERAL MANAGER