What Soft Landing does

Soft Landing is Australia's largest mattress recycler and a certified not-for-profit social enterprise operating under Community Resources Ltd, headquartered in Port Kembla, NSW. The company collects end-of-life mattresses and ensemble bases from residential customers, councils, retailers (Harvey Norman, Freedom), and waste-management partners (Cleanaway) across five operational sites in NSW, Victoria, Western Australia, and the ACT, and processes them through a manual dismantling workflow that recovers steel, foam, timber, and textiles at an industry-leading 75% recovery rate. In FY25 the company reported 386,553 mattresses recycled and 6,373 tonnes of waste diverted from landfill, while providing 291 employment opportunities — approximately 76% of which went to people experiencing barriers to work, with 65% of revenue directed to those wages.

Revenue is generated through three primary streams: transaction fees from residential kerbside collections ($74-$78 per piece across regions) and drop-off services ($25-$54 per piece by site), managed-services contracts with 60+ Australian councils, and point-of-sale take-back arrangements with mattress retailers. The company also operates an online booking platform (bookings.softlanding.com.au) that underpins its direct-to-consumer channel, and at its Perth site accepts a broader waste stream including white goods and furniture. Strategic positioning combines environmental compliance (ABSC Approved Recycler, triple ISO certification), policy tailwinds (mattresses added to the federal Product Stewardship Priority List in 2022), and social impact credentials (Social Traders certification) to win government and enterprise procurement.

Recent strategic activity has focused on geographic expansion into Queensland via a 2025 state-government grant, capacity expansion at the Perth Wangara facility in September 2024, and institutional hardening through ISO certifications in February 2026. Core operating software (WasteEdge, deployed 2017) supports logistics across a 17-truck fleet. The business is privately held under Community Resources Ltd, a national not-for-profit employing 960 people, and has historically been funded through a mix of philanthropic grants (Westpac Foundation, Paul Ramsay Foundation, Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation) and operating revenue rather than traditional venture capital.

Name

Soft Landing

Legal name

Community Resources Ltd

Website

https://softlanding.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Soft Landing is Australia's largest mattress recycler, a not-for-profit social enterprise under Community Resources Ltd that collects and manually dismantles end-of-life mattresses across five sites in NSW, Victoria, WA, and ACT, serving residential customers, 60+ councils, retailers, and waste partners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Mattress Recycling and Waste Management Services

NAICS

Materials Recovery Facilities (56292)

SIC

Refuse Systems (4953)

akta.pro primary industry

Bulky Waste & White Goods Drop-Off/Transfer (BPALABAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Material Handling & Loading Services (Tipping, Compaction, Baling, Densification) (EUAIABAI)

Keywords

• Mattress recycling services
• Bulky waste collection
• Circular economy recycling
• Social enterprise employment
• Landfill diversion services

Headquarters

HQ city

Port Kembla

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Mattress Collection Services: Fees charged to residential consumers for kerbside mattress collection and recycling. Prices vary by location (Sydney from $78/piece, Hunter $78/piece, ACT $74.44/piece, Melbourne $78/piece). Additional pieces at discounted rates ($65 each in Sydney).
2. Drop-off Services: Fees charged for customers dropping off mattresses at operational sites. Prices vary by location: Smithfield $54/piece, Redhead $54/piece, Queanbeyan $48.92/piece, Wangara $25/piece.
3. Council Partnership Contracts: Contracts with over 60 Australian councils for mattress collection and recycling services. Councils pay for collection services provided to their residents.
4. Retail Partnership Programs: Point-of-sale and take-back programs with mattress retailers where Soft Landing collects and recycles old mattresses purchased from those retailers. Partners include Harvey Norman.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Soft Landing is a national not-for-profit social enterprise that collects and recycles end-of-life mattresses and ensemble bases across Australia. Services include kerbside residential pickup, drop-off at five sites, bulk commercial collection for councils/retailers/hotels, and manual dismantling that recovers steel, foam, timber, and textiles at a 75% rate.

Product overview

Soft Landing operates as a single, unified service offering — a national mattress collection and recycling service delivered through five physical processing sites. The core service encompasses kerbside pickup, self drop-off, and bulk commercial collection of end-of-life mattresses, ensemble bases, and (at the Perth site) additional waste streams. All mattresses undergo a manual dismantling process to recover steel, foam, timber, and textiles for recycling. An online booking platform underpins customer access to the service. A consumer sustainability survey (Mattresses Matter) is also produced to support advocacy and partnerships with councils and retailers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Kerbside Mattress Collection Service Residential kerbside pickup service for end-of-life mattresses and ensemble bases, available across NSW, Victoria, WA, and ACT. Customers book online at bookings.softlanding.com.au and mattresses are collected from the kerbside. Pricing varies by region (Sydney from $78/piece, Hunter $78/piece, ACT $74.44/piece, Melbourne $78/piece) with additional pieces at discounted rates.
• Mattress Drop-off Service Self-delivery option at five operational sites (Smithfield NSW, Redhead NSW, Hume ACT, Wangara WA, Bayswater VIC) where customers can drop off mattresses and bases for recycling. Pricing varies by location: Smithfield $54/piece, Redhead $54/piece, Queanbeyan $48.92/piece, Wangara $25/piece. Credit card only.
• Bulk Commercial Collection Service Volume collection service for 10 or more mattresses targeted at councils, retailers, hotels, and other businesses and organisations requiring large-volume mattress disposal. Supports council contracts, retailer take-back programs, and commercial customers such as hotels and motels replacing mattresses at scale.
• Manual Mattress Dismantling and Recycling Hands-on manual deconstruction process that separates steel springs, foam, timber, and textiles for recycling. Achieves up to 75% material recovery—the current industry maximum—compared to mechanical shredding methods. Recovered foam is sent to carpet manufacturers for underlay, steel springs to scrap metal recyclers, and timber bases to industry for mulch.
• Perth Multi-Material Drop-off Service Wangara (Perth) drop-off facility expanded to accept additional waste streams beyond mattresses: lounges, couches, white goods, fridges, freezers, and air conditioning units. Pricing $25/item for mattresses, bases, lounges, couches; $30/item for white goods. Opened in the new Wangara warehouse in September 2024.
• Council Mattress Recycling Contracts Managed service contracts with over 60 Australian local councils for the collection and recycling of end-of-life mattresses from residents. Councils pay Soft Landing to service their communities and meet sustainability and landfill diversion targets. Named partners include Yarra City Council and City of Stirling.
• Retail Take-Back Partnership Program Point-of-sale take-back programs with mattress and bedding retailers where Soft Landing collects and recycles old mattresses purchased from those retailers. Partners include Harvey Norman and Freedom Furniture. The program removes purchase barriers for consumers and demonstrates retailer environmental responsibility.

Quantifiable outcome

• 4.5 million mattresses recycled since inception
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• CleanawaycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2022Procurement agreement making Soft Landing Cleanaway's biggest social enterprise contractor. Agreement opened Soft Landing's mattress collection service to residents in Victoria (Brimbank, Cardinia, Dandenong, Hobson Bay, Maribyrnong, Maroondah, Melton, Moonee Valley, Mornington) and Western Australia (Bayswater, Joondalup, Malaga, Mandurah, Perth Metro).
• 60+ Australian CouncilscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSoft Landing partners with over 60 Australian councils to provide mattress collection and recycling services. Councils contract Soft Landing to service their residents, providing convenient responsible disposal options and helping councils meet sustainability targets.
• Harvey NormancoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRetail partnership where Harvey Norman offers mattress take-back program to customers purchasing new mattresses. Soft Landing collects and recycles the old mattresses, removing a common barrier to purchase and demonstrating environmental responsibility.
• Freedom FurnitureminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRetail partner offering mattress recycling services to customers purchasing new beds.
• Social TraderscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCertifying organization for social enterprises. Soft Landing is certified by Social Traders as a legitimate social enterprise.
• Australian Bedding Stewardship Council (ABSC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndustry body that approves mattress recyclers meeting strict criteria for safe and environmentally responsible practices. Soft Landing is an ABSC Approved Recycler.
• Social Enterprise Council of NSW & ACT (SECNA)minorOthersIndustry association membership for social enterprises in NSW and ACT.
• Amplify AllianceminorOthersIndustry alliance membership.
• The Waste and Recycling Industry of Queensland (WRIQ)minorOthersIndustry association membership for waste and recycling industry in Queensland.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Resource Recovery Australia: Sister social enterprise under the Community Resources Ltd parent (Soft Landing's parent). Direct peer in operating a not-for-profit social-enterprise business that recovers materials from the waste stream while employing people facing employment barriers.
• Bye Bye Mattress: California's mattress recycling program administered under the Mattress Recycling Council, funded by a recycling fee on mattress sales. Comparable to Soft Landing's model as a stewardship-funded mattress collection-and-recycling operator with mandated channel inflows.
• Steer Environmental: UK-based mattress and bulky waste recycling company operating collection-and-recycling services. Direct functional analog to Soft Landing's kerbside-pickup plus material-separation operating model, though UK in geography.
• Mattress Recycling Council: US non-profit stewardship organization running mattress recycling programs in California, Connecticut, Oregon, and Rhode Island. Directly comparable as the closest international analog of Soft Landing's ABSC-aligned stewardship approach to end-of-life mattress recovery.

Broad incumbents

• Veolia Australia: Global environmental-services and waste-management incumbent operating across Australia. Comparable as a broad-scope player in the same waste and recycling sector that Soft Landing addresses through a mattress-specific vertical.
• Bingo Industries: Australian waste and recycling operator with a strong focus on construction & demolition, commercial, and industrial waste. Adjacent incumbent providing competing infrastructure for material recovery streams that overlap with Soft Landing's bulky-waste value chain.
• Cleanaway Waste Management: Australia's largest waste management company and Soft Landing's procurement-agreement partner. Comparable as the dominant incumbent in the same waste value chain that Soft Landing occupies in a more specialized mattress/circular-economy niche.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/soft-landing-mattress-recycling

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Soft Landing