Featherweight packs a double whammy

A trainee demonstrates the

filling process at yesterday’s 

Featherweight launch. 

Ever wondered where old mattresses go when they die? If they’re lucky they end up at Mission Australia's new Featherweight recycling enterprise in Bellambi where they’re reborn as punching bags.

One of a growing number of Mission Australia social enterprises based in the Illawarra that aims to tackle the two issues of waste and local unemployment, Featherweight was officially launched on Tuesday at an on-site ceremony.

Among the guests at yesterday’s launch were representatives from the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR), Disability Employment Services, Mission Australia Community Services as well as local Job Services Australia providers.

Guests were treated to a demonstration of how cotton stripped from old mattresses and clothes from our Big Heart op shops are used to fill punching bags, goalpost pads and sports equipment. The filling machine, constructed by the Illawarra’s own JME Engineering, is believed to be the only one of its type.

The finished punching bags and padded equipment is then packed off to Spartan Sports, based in nearby Warilla.

Featherweight builds on the success of Soft Landing, a social enterprise that strips mattresses of all their useful, recyclable parts such as timber and metal.

It received Australian Government funding via the Innovation Fund, which is a component of Job Services Australia.

The business targets employing local job seekers who are Aboriginal or who have a disability. Over a two-year period the Featherweight team will comprise 11 trainees, 10 casual staff and also provide 40 work-experience positions.

Featherweight’s green contribution
In the next three years, Featherweight is expected to divert 985,680kg of product from landfill and into punching bags, and will recycle more than 677,680kg of steel. This equates to 1,663,440 kg of product diverted from landfill.