Galway social enterprises Bounce Back Recycling (BBR ) and Bounce Back Upcycling (BBU ) hosted an open day event on Saturday, June 15 at Ballybrit Industrial Estate. The event was part of Traveller Pride and marked the relocation of BBU, next door to their sister enterprise BBR. Mairead Farrell TD was in attendance as were newly elected city councillors, Helen Ogbu (Labour ), Shane Forde (Fine Gael ), and Aisling Burke (Sinn Féin ).
The open day featured live music, workshops, traditional games, bread making, tin smithing, photo exhibitions, paper flower making, face painting, and a barrel top wagon. BBR presented demonstrations of their award-winning work breaking down mattresses by hand for recycling. BBU held demonstrations of their furniture repair and upholstery upcycling. The women also demonstrated how to make traditional beady pockets.
Joanna Corcoran captivated children with artistic face painting, while John Corcoran demonstrated how to make paper roses. Tom McDonnell showcased his skills as a tinsmith. Traveller Foster Care Project staff, Bridgie Power and Ruth Guy, highlighted the need for Traveller Foster carers.
“We are celebrating Traveller Pride to showcase Traveller innovation and heritage under the theme Reclaiming Spaces as the Original Recyclers,” says Martin Ward, who is the co-ordinator of the Galway Traveller Movement. “This links back to the tinsmiths more than 100 years ago, who provided a service to the settled community before plastic took over. Holding this open day for the public to see BBR and BBU at work was a great way to showcase that our heritage as recyclers lives on.”
Since its establishment in 2017, Traveller-led social enterprise BBR has diverted over 100,000 bulky waste items from landfill. The BBR team deconstructs old mattresses and furniture by hand, to extract more materials for recycling into the circular economy. These materials are reused for purposes like home insulation, carpet underlay and mulch, while the springs are used by Galway Metal.
“By recycling a mattress, you can turn the waste into valuable materials, adding to the circular economy and create green jobs,” says BBR manager Keith McDonagh. “Sending mattresses to the dump costs our economy millions of euros every year.”
Operating across 13 counties, BBR offers jobs and training to Travellers, who face 80 per cent unemployment rates. BBR serves householders, local authorities, and retailers, including drop off and door-to-door collection services. In the Galway area, BBR offers mattress collection from homes and businesses within three days of receiving a phone or online booking.
You can visit www.bouncebackrecycling.ie to book a door-to-door collection service or call BBR on 091-760 877.
