What happens to your recycling?
Ever wonder where your recycling goes or what it becomes, after you’ve thrown it in your container or bank? Follow the trail below and find out below!
Paper
Where to Recycle: Household Collections, Paper Banks or Household Waste Recycling Centres.
What happens: paper is pulped, de-inked and dried onto large rolls used to make newsprint in the UK. The majority of paper in Devon is processed at facilities in Shropshire or Norfolk. It can be recycled into fresh new paper in just 7 days!
Find out more about what happens to paper collected in Devon in this video.
Glass
Where to Recycle: Some Household Collections or Household Waste Recycling Centres.
What happens: glass is sorted into different colours, washed and broken into small pieces called cullet at a facility in Yorkshire. It is then sent to factories across the UK to be reformed into new glass bottles and jars. Some of the glass may be used as aggregate in road construction within Devon – the road you live on could be surfaced with your empty bottles! Recycling just one bottle can save enough energy to power a TV for 20 minutes.
Find out more about what happens to glass collected in Devon in this video.
Textiles
Where to Recycle: Some Household Collections or Household Waste Recycling Centres.
What happens: good quality textiles and wearable clothing collected from either banks or kerb side is resold into textile markets abroad for reuse or sold in UK charity shops such as Salvation Army. Lower quality textiles are turned into rags and cloths for cleaning. Some charities such as The Firefighters Charity accept these lower quality textiles. Learn to love your clothes, with information on repairing and caring for them here.
Find out more about what happens to textiles collected in Devon in this video.
Plastic
Where to Recycle: Some Household Collections or Household Waste Recycling Centres.
What happens: Plastic is sorted into different grades and then sent to the correct re-processor where it is turned into new plastic items such as bottles, fleeces and food containers. Depending on the grade, it may also be turned into pellets used to manufacture other things. The majority of this occurs within the UK however a select number of specialist plastics are sent to a facility in Germany as the UK doesn’t have the ability.
Recycle Now have a really useful page on plastics recycling.
Cans
Where to Recycle: Some Household Collections or Household Waste Recycling Centres.
What happens to aluminium cans: Aluminium is separated via an Eddy Current Separator which uses an electric charge to “throw” items made of aluminium into a separate container. The cans are shredded, any coloured coating is removed then they are melted in a furnace. The molten metal is cast into solid ingots, which is then used to make new metal products such as tins, cans and even airplanes. Find out more about aluminium recycling via Alupro. Aluminium foil is recycled separately to cans.
What happens to steel cans: Steel can recycling is a similar process. The cans are melted in a huge furnace, into which molten iron is added and then oxygen which raises the temperature to ~1700°C. The liquid metal is poured into a mould to form big slabs which are then rolled into coils. These coils are used to make all sorts of steel products such as bikes, cars, bridges, paperclips or even new food and drink cans.
Recycle Now has more information on can recycling.
Cardboard
Where to Recycle: Most Household Collections or Household Waste Recycling Centres.
What happens: cardboard is separated from paper (if collections are combined) it is then pulped and then reprocessed into corrugated card or cardboard boxes.
Electrical Items
Where to Recycle: Some Household Collections or Household Waste Recycling Centres.
What happens: Electrical items are stripped down to their component materials e.g. plastics and metals. These are then reprocessed into new items depending on the grade of material. Typical items include traffic cones, new steel products or even new circuit boards.
Food Waste
Where to Recycle: Some Household Collections
What happens: Garden waste and food waste are treated differently depending on whether they are collected separately or together.
Food waste that’s collected by itself is sent to an anaerobic digestion facility in either Holsworthy or Cannington. The material is broken down in a series of sealed, oxygen free tanks to produce methane, a gas used to generate electricity and digestate, a nutrient rich fertiliser used by local farmers.
Find out more about reducing food waste on our Love food, hate waste pages.
Garden Waste and Trimmings
Where to Recycle: Some Garden Waste Collections or Household Waste Recycling Centres.
What happens: Garden waste and food waste are treated differently depending on whether they are collected separately or together.
Garden waste that’s collected by itself is sent for processing at a Windrow composting facility. This involves piling organic matter into long rows and turning it frequently to oxygenate and help with the decomposition.
Food and Garden waste that’s collected together is sent for composting at an in-vessel composting (IVC) facility in Oxford. The waste is shredded and kept in a large container for 2-4weeks where high temperatures kill the bacteria. It is then left to decompose for a further few months.
