From waste to wages

ABC Perth | September 5 2024

A huge thanks to ABC Perth for spotlighting our work at our Perth site! Hear from our General Manager David Petrie about the environmental impact of mattresses in landfill and what we're doing to create positive change (and how you as a consumer can help!). Plus, learn how we're creating meaningful jobs for people facing barriers to employment, including staff member Nasser's powerful story.

Soft Landing: New recycling site in Wangara expanding Perth’s circular economy for mattresses

Perth Now | September 5 2024

A new recycling facility has opened its doors in Wangara, expanding Perth’s recycling capabilities for mattresses, whitegoods and furniture.

Soft Landing Mattress Recycling’s new Wangara warehouse replaces its old location, which was also in Wangara, and is set to expand the organisation and its efficiency.

David Petrie talks to Kate Leaver from Perth ABC Illawarra

ABC Radio Perth Drive | Tue 3 Sep 2024

We head to Perth’s only mattress recycling facility. In the last five years Soft Landing have recycled nearly half a million mattresses and today general manager David Petrie says they are ramping up operations.

Project to assist Indigenous women enter the workforce

Great Lakes Advocate | July 18 2024

A project which has been designed to benefit women living along the Mid-Coast has been announced by Community Resources.

RENEW (rejuvenating employment, nurturing and empowering women) is about helping women who experience barriers entering or re-entering the workforce.

Secure a job and discover a brighter future with Strive for Success

Forster Fortnightly | June 12 2024

Strive for Success is a free job skills training and employment program for young people aged 15-24 in the MidNorth Coast, run by local organisation Homebase Youth Service in Tuncurry.

Sleeping on waste: how to recycle a mattress in Australia so that it doesn’t end up in landfill (or on the street)

The Guardian Maddie Thomas | July 13 2024

About 1.8m mattresses are thrown out each year in Australia, often seen dumped on the side of the road. Laid end to end, that would be enough to stretch from Darwin to the tip of Tasmania. Mattresses last between eight and 10 years, and are usually kept for longer. But getting rid of one is not easy, and 40% of those discarded end up in landfill.

Volunteering: it's not just an act of charity

ILLAWARRA MERCURY | 18 May 2024

'Volunteering'.

The word creates an image of an altruistic person, generously giving their time to a good cause in their community; maybe they're providing meals to people in need, planting trees or working at an animal shelter.

Thousands help keep waste out of landfill

Local News Plus | May 18 2024

OVER 6,000 residents have helped stop an incredible 192 tonnes of waste from going to landfill in the 2022/2023 financial year via Resource Recovery Australia (RRA).

The waste was diverted through RRA’s Mobile Community Recycling Service (MCRS), a one-of-a-kind Community Recycling Centre (CRC) on wheels.
Through the service, customers can safely dispose of common household problem waste including old paint, household and car batteries, gas and helium balloon bottles, e-waste, fire extinguishers, engine and cooking oils, fluorescent globes, tubes and smoke detectors – all of which do not belong in the bin.

Fair Food Farm

ABC Gardening Australia | SERIES 35 | Episode 10 Special
5 April 2024

Although Fair Food Farm looks like it could be set on a South-East Asian hillside, Clarence assures us that this abundant project is actually in the Illawarra, and is doing great things for migrants in the local community.

WE COULD ALL SLEEP A BIT EASIER IF MATTRESSES WEREN’T SUCH A MASSIVE WASTE PROBLEM

Hobart Mercury | April 14 2024

The Australian Bedding Stewardship Council (ABSC) calculates we dispose of nearly two million mattresses every year with nearly 40 per cent or 22,000 tonnes ending up in landfill. An extra 15,000 tonnes of waste left over from the mattress recycling process also goes to landfill. That is a significant contribution to the already large amount of textile waste we are dumping in landfill.

A holistic solution to youth homelessness in the Illawarra

ILLAWARRA MERCURY | 9 March 2024

The Wollongong local government area has been named a homeless hotspot, and our young people - those aged under 30 - are being hit the hardest.

Homelessness NSW's analysis of the recently released Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) figures revealed the Wollongong LGA now has the third highest number of people in the state receiving assistance at specialist homelessness services, with figures rising by 6 per cent in 2023.

Green Connect helps young people Strive For Success with new jobs program

THE ILLAWARRA FLAME | 26 Feb 2024

In a bid to empower young people, local social enterprise Green Connect has created an employment initiative called Strive For Success. This jobs program, launched in collaboration with Homebase Youth Services, has already started to have a positive impact in the Illawarra, helping young people find mainstream work.

Stumped about what to do with your Christmas tree? Dunmore Reviva has the solution

Regional Illawarra  |  January 19 2024

Now Christmas is over, spare a thought for the humble trees that were the centre of attention in December.

Just a couple of weeks later thousands of them have made their way to landfill, along with the decorations that adorned them through the festive season.

Deputy general manager of Resource Recovery Australia, Ally Glendenning, says there are a couple of reasons behind the annual influx of Christmas trees to the region’s tips.

Reuse and repair with Reviva: the Shellharbour shop selling second chances

Regional Illawarra  |  December 20 2023

It’s the one-stop in Shellharbour for everything from surfboards and sporting equipment to electricals, furniture and knick-knacks.

The Reviva Reuse Shop is renowned for rehoming and recycling preloved goods destined for landfill, but the products aren’t the only ones getting a second chance – employees, the community and the planet are all benefitting from the service as well.

Revive your wallet with a quick shop at Leeton's Reviva store

The Irrigator  |  December 14 2023

A TREASURE trove of pre-loved items have officially hit the shelves in Leeton. Earlier this month, Reviva Leeton officially opened its doors onsite at the Leeton Landfill and Recycling Centre.

Green Connect farm produces fresh food, jobs and a sense of community

regionillawarra.com.au | 6 November 2023
Jen White

Located in a gully and surrounded by suburban family homes, a primary and a high school, Green Connect has transformed a 4.5 ha parcel of wasteland into one of the largest urban permaculture farms in the world.

Wherever you look on the Warrawong farm there are garden patches boasting plentiful produce grown organically and tended to by young people and refugees grateful to learn new skills in a safe and supportive environment.

New flower garden for Green Connect

ABC ILLAWARRA | 12 October 2023

The Green Connect farm is an 4.45 hectare urban farm in Warrawong that trains and employs young people and refugees, and now they are offering fresh flower bouquets! 💐

Their new flower garden was funded by musician Jack Johnson through his charity foundation and community donations.

Green Connect partnerships a win-win for the region

ILLAWARRA MERCURY | 12 August 2023

In 2021, the Illawarra had a 4.6 per cent unemployment rate, and while that rate appears to be falling post-COVID, with Wollongong City’s unemployment rate sitting at just 2.8 per cent in March, plenty of people in our community are still searching for permanent work. Yet somehow, on the flip side, many local businesses continue to feel the pinch of the labour shortage.

Green Connect Farm was today bursting with fun as the Lake Heights site joined in celebrations for Shellharbour KidsFest

WIN TV |  Friday 26th May 2023

How a little farm in the suburbs is bringing the world to The Gong

llawarra Mercury  |  Saturday 24th March 2023

The Australian tradition of celebrating multiculturalism during Harmony Week got me thinking.

I'm originally from the US, and as the General Manager at Green Connect, I'm always fascinated by the official statistics which show just how much Australia has been shaped by successive waves of immigration over the past 200 years.

Green Connect features in an international guide on inspiring environmental projects

Natureproject  |  February 12 2023

GC featured in an international project on examples of environmental best practice around the world - Good Practice Guide by Jönköping University.
This Good Practice Guide outlines inspiring examples of social inclusion, creating urban value and environmental welfare through dialogue, education, collaboration. It also reveals new jobs and new skills that are invented on the way.

Green Connect features on PAGES 38-39 of the guide.

Large scale chemical agriculture untenable

Illawarra Mercury  |  Saturday 14th January 2023

There are many benefits to being the General Manager of Green Connect, but the big one is that I get to work from our farm in Warrawong regularly and when I'm there I am surrounded by a vibrant natural environment.
Decades of research have proven that exposure to natural spaces is critical to our mental and physical health. It saddens me that not everyone experiences the rhythms of the land the way that my team and I do.

Green Connect’s Flower Garden

Eastside Radio - Monday Drive  |  December 2022

Ruth Hessey talks to Green Connect farm manager Emily and farm worker, Su Meh about a project to grow more sustainable flowers to sell to the community.

Green Connect’s Zero Waste Coordinator Bella Pearson interviewed on ABC Illawarra for National Recycling Week

ABC Radio Illawarra  |  Friday 11th November 2022

Minister for the Environment and Water MP. Tanya Plibersek visits Soft Landing Hume

Tanya Plibersek Facebook  |  Thursday 10th November 2022

I’ve added mattresses, tyres, and healthcare plastics to the Minister’s Priority List. It puts industry on notice to ensure these products can be manufactured, used, reused, and disposed of sustainably.

Leading the way, one mattress at a time.

WIN Canberra  |  Tuesday 8th November 2022

The Federal Government is cracking down on discarded mattresses, tyres and medical supplies. They'll be putting the onus back on the companies behind the products in hopes of reducing their impact on the environment.

Leading the way, one mattress at a time, soft landing, keeping beds out of landfill while creating meaningful jobs for those struggling to find work.

The kind of focus and impact that we can get by this kind of involvement in recycling and the work that we're doing and social enterprises more broadly is going to have such an impact on our community.

Community Resources CEO interview on Eastside FM for National Recycling Week

Eastside FM Radio  |  Monday 7th November 2022

Marc Higgins collected bottles and cans as a kid. Now as CEO of Community Resources he’s doing it on an industrial scale! From recycling mattresses, e-waste and polystyrene to growing and distributing fair food, Marc’s 684 deadly staff are at the vanguard of Australia’s circular economy, he explains in this entertaining podcast.

Soft Landing’s ACT Manager Kylie Roberts-Frost interview on ABC Canberra

ABC Radio Canberra Saturday Breakfast  |  Saturday 5th November 2022

As we kick off National Recycling Week 2022 we encourage you to learn more about what goes into mattress recycling, where the components go, and what exactly the circular economy is?

Listen to our Soft Landing’s ACT Manager Kylie Roberts-Frost interview with Emma Bickley on Saturday Breakfast ABC Canberra to learn more.

Soft Landing brings new life to unwanted mattresses

www.climatechoices.act.gov.au - October 2022

In Australia, around 1.8 million mattresses end up in landfill each year. Soft Landing, a national social enterprise that operates in Hume, repurpose unwanted mattresses and ensemble bases.

Cleanaway bolsters environmental and social impact with Soft Landing

www.cleanaway.com.au - 15 June 2022

Our procurement agreement with this social enterprise makes mattress recycling accessible to even more Australians while creating jobs for those in need

This year's World Environment Day theme is #OnlyOneEarth

Great Lakes Advocate - 1 June 2022

Ahead of World Environment Day this Sunday, June 5, local not-for-profit social enterprise, Resource Recovery Australia (RRA) is encouraging the Mid-Coast community to spark change. This year's World Environment Day theme is #OnlyOneEarth, a reminder to us all that we need to be a part of the change.

Could a zero waste farm be the answer to supermarket shortages?

A Current Affair – 19 March 2022

The answer to supermarket COVID-19 shortages could be wedged between suburban homes in a former industrial heartland on the New South Wales South Coast.

The Tinkerage: Resource Recovery Australia

WIN News – 8 February 2022

Usually when you break something you throw it out, but the Tinkerage at Dunmore's telling everyone to instead think twice. It's teaching people to fix and upcycle broken objects, reducing the amount of waste going to landfill.

Green Connect to open new op shop and education hub at UOW

Illawarra Mercury – 7 February 2022

Green Connect general manager Kylie Flament is ecstatic the social enterprise is teaming with UOW to open an op shop with a difference.

Green Connect: The farm helping refugees build a life in Australia

BBC News – 3 January 2022

Green Connect is an Australian urban farm that employs former refugees who are struggling to find work.
Emmanuel Bakenga tells the BBC how it “changed his life dramatically” after he arrived from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Illawarra's Flame Tree Beekeeper explains what to do when you see a swarm

Illawarra Mercury - 3 January 2022

If you spot a swam of bees, Claire Brown could be the one to help you remove the buzzy insects safely without using a can of Mortein. The apian expert has been keeping bees for around seven years and is increasingly being requested to share her knowledge - and dislodge a swarm or two from domestic premises.

Larry has this year donated more than 200 Christmas presents to needy children

Great Lakes Advocate - 13 December 2021

The thought of wrapping 230 Christmas presents is enough to make most people shake in their Santa boots. But it's no big deal to Forster local, Larry Fulton, who buys, wraps and donates hundreds of children's presents every year.

Kylie Flament shows why no problems too big for a community working together

Illawarra Mercury - 25 November 2021

When Green Connect started almost 11 years ago, "we wanted to help solve unemployment, particularly for young people and refugees, we wanted to help deal with the unprecedented levels of waste going to landfill and we wanted to address the unsustainable food system we have here”.

How mattresses are getting lives back on track

The Project - Change Makers - November 16, 2021

Every year in Australia, we throw out more than a million mattresses. But one social enterprise is doing its bit to help recycle them and give jobs to some of our most disadvantaged people.

Did you get a new mattress during COVID? Did you send it to landfill or have it recycled?

Canberra Times - November 11, 2021

The year 2020-2021 may not have been a good one for many people but it's been a record one for social enterprise Soft Landing which collects and recycles mattresses nationally, including at Hume in the ACT.

Mid Coast residents help social enterprise RRA divert 3295 tonnes of waste from landfill

Manning River Times - 10 November 2021

Mid North Coast residents have demonstrated their great appetite for recycling, helping social enterprise, Resource Recovery Australia (RRA) to divert a massive 3295 tonnes of waste from landfill during 2020-21…

Social enterprise registers a record haul of mattresses

Fairfield City Champion - 10 November 2021

For every 35 mattresses, national social enterprise Soft Landing collect and recycle each day, they can create a job for someone who "really needs one".
Soft Landing's largest site is at Smithfield and services 14 councils and employs mostly former refugees. Of the 260 people employed in 2020-21, 79 per cent had faced some sort of challenge in entering the workforce.

Recycling mattresses and rebuilding lives

ABC Radio Drive with Anna Vidot - Monday 8 November, 2021, 3:30pm

Did you buy a new bed in the past year? What did you do with the old mattress? Did you look for a way to recycle it? Did you know that was even possible?
That's where Soft Landing comes in. It's a social enterprise that recycles mattresses.
In the past year, they recycled a record 538,000 mattresses and ensembles across the country.

Kylie Roberts-Frost is the ACT Manager of Soft Landing spoke to Drive presenter Anna Vidot.

The challenge of finding a final resting place for old mattresses

Sydney Morning Herald - November 7, 2021

Joe Rasmussen has never had the urge to throw himself from the top of the stairs of his Smithfield warehouse onto the piles of mattresses that cover the floor…

Warrawong's Green Connect farm workshops are restarting

Illawarra Mercury - 25 October 2021

Green Connect's 11-acre permaculture farm at Warrawong is reopening to the public with a summer workshop series.

Experts will be teaching skills in beekeeping to propagation, seed saving to gardening in a small space, from December through to January.

Turning 11 acres of a NSW ‘dumping site’ into a world-class farm

Sydney Morning Herald - October 24, 2021

The land had little going for it when Wollongong not-for-profit group Green Connect selected it as the site of their new urban farm.

Green Connect wins global Commonwealth Innovation Award

Illawarra Mercury - 30 September 2021

Port Kembla social enterprise Green Connect has been recognised by the Commonwealth of nations for its innovation - the only group from Australia picked for the global awards.

Warrawong’s Green Connect farm set to farewell popular manager

Illawarra Mercury - 21 August 2021

Cal Champagne will end his eight-year stint with Green Connect in the coming weeks. Losing the farm manager is a big blow for the social enterprise. Mr Champagne’s effort and energy over the years has helped turn what was once 11 acres of Warrawong wasteland into a thriving permaculture farm.

Green Connect giving groceries, care packages to Illawarra families in need

Illawarra Mercury - 20 July 2021

Illawarra-based social enterprise Green Connect are delivering free fresh produce and care packages to people doing it tough in the midst of the pandemic. The community are being asked to consider donating to the cause, or nominating someone who could use a bit of help

Support our local fruit and veggie producers

WIN News Illawarra - 06 July 2021

Illawarra social enterprise Green Connect is encouraging us to support our local fruit and veggie producers.
The community organisation employs refugees and disadvantaged youth, and is one of only three market gardens in the region.

Social enterprise celebrates NAIDOC Week

Great Lakes Advocate - 05 July 2021

National social enterprise Resource Recovery Australia (RRA) is acknowledging the contribution Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees play in the organisation's identity during NAIDOC Week.
Celebrating NAIDOC Week this week, RRA Mid Coast Reviva area manager, Russell Ping says Indigenous employees are a big part of RRA's identity, especially in the local area.

Waste recycling social enterprise steps up to employ locals, diverts 82 tonnes of waste

ABC News - 05 July 2021

After three tedious years of handing out resumes, James Holder has found a job he adores.

"Everyday is a blessing just having work and having something to do with life and actually getting somewhere, it's a lovely thing, it's awesome."

'Stateless' refugee's 17-year ordeal to find a 'safe' home in Wollongong

Illawarra Mercury - 26 June 2021

Eh Moo readily admits working at the Green Connect urban farm in Warrawong has changed his life for the better.

"Before I started at Green Connect I was very shy and scared to talk to people because my English was not very good, but now I have so much self­confidence and I believe in myself," he said.

Noor 'grateful 'to land job

Fairfield City Champion - 22 June 2021

Noor Kamal knows just how important his job is at mattress recycling social enterprise Soft Landing's warehouse in Smithfield.

"If I didn't have this job I wouldn't be able to support my family back home, and all of the friends I have made in Australia have been through my work," said Mr Kamal

Illawarra op shops, charity bins not the only solution to getting rid of clothes

Illawarra Mercury – 22 May 2021

Think putting unwanted pants in a charity bin is a good deed? Few realise about 90 per cent of donations will never end up in an op shop. So where do you take your old clothes?

Workshops for Urban Growers

The Bugle - 6 March 2021

Those who shop at the Kiama Farmer’s Market will have seen Su Meh and others selling vegetables at the Green Connect stall, without knowing the story behind the produce.

Social enterprise helps refugees remove barriers to employment

Fairfield City Champion - 12 November 2020

The Smithfield arm of a mattress recycling social enterprise is kicking major goals in diverting waste from landfill.

Social enterprise diverts 2583 tonnes of waste on Mid Coast

Manning River Times - 10 November 2020

Social enterprise Resource Recovery Australia (RRA) diverted 2583 tonnes of waste from landfill for reuse and recycling across its MidCoast operations in 2019-20.

Soft Landing Newcastle recycling mattresses to divert steel, timber and foam from landfill

Newcastle Herald - 9 November 2020

The Newcastle arm of a mattress recycling social enterprise is kicking major goals in diverting waste from landfill.

Moss Vale Reviva team leading the way in recycling

Southern Highlands News - 9 November 2020

Social enterprise Resource Recovery Australia (RRA) has diverted 388 tonnes of waste from landfill for re-use in Moss Vale in 2019-20..

Call for scale-up of Illawarra youth jobs program with proven outcomes

Illawarra Mercury - 31 July 2020

A not-for-profit group is seeking government support for the continuation and scale-up of a youth employment program in the Illawarra.

Wollongong’s urban farmland tours back on in time for the school holidays

Illawarra Mercury - 8 July 2020

In the industrial hills behind Warrawong High School, the Green Connect farm is a little slice of bucolic paradise.

Has COVID-19 accelerated funding collaboration?

Pro Bono Australia - 9 June 2020

There is a lot at stake for jobs-focused social enterprises in this crisis. The jobs they create offer more than an income.

Reviva Moss Vale team giving new purpose to hidden treasures

Southern Highlands News - 28 May 2020

Recovery has an extra special meaning at one Southern Highlands business set to re-open after a COVID-19 forced shut down.

Moss Vale Reviva centre to re-open

2ST 102.9 fm - 29 May 2020

The Reviva Centre at Moss Vale re - opens to the public from Monday.

Environmental benefits provide 'silver lining' - and social connection - during COVID-19 crisis

Illawarra Mercury - 28 March 2020

As panic buying continues to create a shortage of supplies in major supermarkets and society becomes increasingly locked-down, a growing number of Illawarra residents have been looking for ways to become more self-sufficient.

Soft Landing Media Q&A with Eco Voice

Eco Voice - 12 February 2020

Interview with Chris Richards, General Manager, Soft Landing

RRA diverted 291.76 tonnes of material from landfill for reuse in 12 months

Great Lakes Advocate - 23 October 2019

A quiet revolution has been taking place during the past 28 years, and it's been right here in our own backyard.

Soft Landing makes a big impact

Westpac Sustainability News - 11 March 2019

“Helping people – that’s what I love about this place,” says Julie Shannon, Logistics Manager at Soft Landing, one of Australia’s largest mattress recyclers.