Why recycle? And what happens to it?

Recycling makes sense - both for our future and our wallets. Our Recycle more... action plan is packed with actions to help us to increase our recycling rate to 50 percent by 2023.

Your recycling efforts also help to keep your council tax down by generating up to £1 million a year which is re-invested into council services.

It also means we're cutting the amount we send to landfill or incineration each year. Using recycled materials to create new products saves energy and the need to dig up more precious natural resources.

We go out to the market place every two months with our recycling, ensuring we achieve the best prices. On this page you can find out what we currently do with your recycling after we've collected it.

What happens after we collect your recycling?

Take a look at the video below to find out what happens to your recycling after we collect it from your house.

After transporting it to our depot, further separating and baling the recycling, we sell each type of recycling to different re-processing companies.

Plastic

Plastic from your red box is collected from our depot by Biffaand transported to one of their Plastic Recycling Facilities in Aldridge. The plastic is sorted into different plastic types before being sent to a Biffa facility in either Redcar or Seaham.

• PET bottles such as soft drink bottles are sent to recycling facilities in Seaham and Harrogate. They are then processed into plastic flake, ready to be made into containers, trays and bottles for the food and drinks packaging industry.
• HDPE bottles such as milk jugs are sent to recycling facilities in Redcar, County Armagh and Harrogate. They are then washed and flaked or pelletised so they can be made into new milk bottles.
• PP pots, tubs and trays are processed into plastic flake at facilities in Redcar, Leamington Spa and Belgium. The flake is then used for a wide range of items such as buckets, paint trays and car parts. A very small percentage of ‘PP’ plastic is sent to Spain and Slovakia for recycling.
• Any paper or film contamination is sent to a waste to energy facility, where the energy in the material is recovered to create electricity and heat.

Check which types of plastic you can recycle.

Aluminium

Aluminium cans, aerosol and foil from your red box are brought to our recycling depot and later collected by Swan Alloy.

The aluminium is taken to a facility in Swansea where it is remelted into large aluminium ingots. The ingots can then be used to produce aluminium cans for use in the food and beverage packaging industry in the UK, France and Germany.

Did you know, recycling just one aluminium drinks can saves enough energy to power a TV for three hours? Aluminium can also be endlessly recycled so recycling your aluminium cans is worth the effort!

Check which aluminium items you can recycle.

Glass

Glass is processed by Cello Recycling Ltd. It is transported to their glass container facility in Yorkshire where it is sorted by colour and processed into glass cullet (crushed glass). The glass cullet is then melted in a furnace ready to be made into new food, beverage, and pharmaceutical containers at the site. None of the glass is sent abroad, it is all used within the UK.

Glass is recyclable pretty much forever – throwing it away really is a waste! Check which glass items you can recycle.

Steel

Steel cans and tins from your red box are baled at our recycling depot and collected by Clearpoint Recycling. They send the bales to be processed by Sims Metal in Smethwick where they re-bale the steel cans into mill grade bales.

This means they are ready to be processed into new steel products by TATA Steel, British Steel, Liberty and Celsa, for use in the construction, automotive and aerospace industries. No steel is exported outside the UK.

Check which steel items you can recycle.

Cardboard

We sell cardboard to Baker’s Waste who take it to their facility in Kirby Muxloe, Leicestershire. At the facility, the cardboard is baled ready for transportation to various recycling mills in the UK and abroad. At the mills, the cardboard is re-pulped, screened and cleaned, the fibres are then pressed and rolled into paper.

Check how to recycle cardboard in the yellow bag.

Paper

We sell our paper to Palm Recycling who transport it to their paper mill based in King’s Lynn. Here the paper goes through a pulping process and any contaminants such as staples are removed and sent to an incinerator in Norfolk. After the pulping process, the pulp is used to manufacture newsprint in the UK.

Check how to recycle paper in the blue bag.

Textiles

Find out how to recycle old clothes, shoes, accessories and bags - and what happens to them.

Garden waste

We deliver your garden waste directly to an open windrow composting facility in Lount, near to Ashby operated by SUEZ. The garden waste is shredded and placed into windrows (long heaped rows) which are turned on a regular basis over a 14 week period. This matures it into a PAS 100 compost which is a standard for composting recognised in the organics recycling sector. The compost is used on agricultural land.