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

All our plastics are recycled right here in the UK! Plastic from your red box is collected from our depot by Jayplas and transported to one of their facilities in South Normanton, Alfreton. Here it is sorted into different plastic types, which then undergo the processes listed below.

• PET bottles such as drinks bottles are sent to their washplant in Corby. Here they are processed into plastic flakes and sheet, ready to be made into trays for food packaging.
• HDPE bottles such as milk jugs are processed into plastic pellets at a washplant in Grimsby. The pellets are used to manufacture food grade pellet (milk bottle to milk bottle) and for industrial use.
• PP pots, tubs and trays are also processed into plastic pellets in Loughborough. The pellets are used to manufacture non-food packaging and paint pots.
• 2d Fraction Paper/Film is sent to a Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) facility in Staines Upon Thames. Here it is processed and then transported to energy from waste plants and cement kilns in the UK and Europe.

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 Sibelco. It is transported to their glass recycling facility in Sheffield where it is sorted by colour, ready to be processed into glass cullet (crushed glass). The cullet is remelted back into container glass for use in the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical industries 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 collected from our depot by Print Waste who take them to AMG Resources in Llanelli, Wales to be shredded, sheared and de-tinned.

The steel is then sent to Celsa Steel in Cardiff where it is melted in a furnace and poured to create steel reinforcing bars and mesh for the construction industry.

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.