The council recently held focus groups to find out people’s views on recycling and waste management. In these discussions, many were keen to find out how their waste materials are recycled. So here’s our guide to what happens to your recyclable materials and what they can be turned into.
Green boxes (glass, cans, tins)
Glass
Labels, metals and other contamination are removed. The glass is crushed into small pieces to form cullet which is mixed with sand, soda ash, and limestone. It is put into a furnace and melted at 1,500 degrees centigrade. The hot glass is shaped in moulds and then cooled.
Recycled glass products include new jars, bottles, tiles, road surfacing, marbles, jewellery, and fiberglass insulation.
Aluminium Cans
Cans are flattened and shredded into small pieces. Hot air (500°C) removes any decoration and the shreds are melted in a furnace. The molten metal flows into moulds to form ingots – each contains enough metal to make 1.5 million new cans.
Aluminum cans may be turned into new cans, window frames, foil or car parts
Steel/Tin Cans
Cans are melted down in a furnace with other grades of scrap metal and liquid iron and turned into new steel.
Steel cans are made into a wide range of products such as new food cans, cars, car parts, bicycles and paper clips.
Blue boxes (paper)
Paper is taken to the AbitibiBowater Recycling Europe paper mill in Cheshire. The paper is mixed with warm water and chemicals to turn it into pulp. Ink and materials such as paper clips, are removed from the pulp. The paper is pressed to remove water and to form a strong interlocked mat. The paper is ironed out through big tubes and wound into large rolls. The rolls of recycled paper are cut and wrapped before being cut to size.
Recycled paper from North Lincolnshire is turned back into new newspapers. It can take just seven days to recycle an old newspaper into a new one.
For every tonne of glass, cans and paper collected in North Lincolnshire, AbitibiBowater Recycling Europe, the council’s waste contractor, donates £1 to a local charity. In February 2008, Abitibi donated £3,000 to Magic Moments, a local charity helping autistic children.
Salvation Army bag (mixed textiles and clothes)
Textiles bags are collected from the kerbside with your blue and green boxes and donated to the Salvation Army. Some clothes are given to the homeless, but the majority are sold in Salvation Army stores across the country and on their own auction site on eBay.
All funds raised from textile donations go to beds for the homeless, meals and counselling. They help to supply water, food, housing and tools in disaster zones.
Burgundy bins (plastic and cardboard)
Plastics and cardboard are sent to a plant in Milton Keynes where they are separated for processing.
Plastics
Plastics are sorted by colour and type, and contaminants like labels are removed. The plastic is granulated, heated and moulded into another product. The different types of plastics recycled in North Lincolnshire can return as pop, shampoo or detergent bottles, carpet fibres, drain pipes, clothing, fleece jackets, luggage, traffic cones, toys, flower pots and recycling boxes.
Cardboard
In a similar way to the newspaper process, cardboard is mixed with water (pulped) and contaminants are removed. It is pressed into sheets and dried and recycled into new boxes, packaging or insulation.
Brown bins (garden and uncooked fruit and vegetable waste)
Brown bin contents are taken to the council’s composting plant in Flixborough, managed by SITA UK. A machine shreds all the garden and uncooked fruit and vegetable waste. The shredded waste is mixed with wood and then placed in to long triangular shaped heaps called ‘windrows’. The windrow temperatures are checked daily and turned every other day. After just 10 to 12 weeks the waste becomes high quality compost.
Compost is used in restoration, landscaping, agriculture and sold to garden centres and DIY stores in the UK. You can also buy the compost back from household recycling centres across North Lincolnshire.
What can you compost at home?
- raw fruit and vegetables
- used tea bags/leaves and coffee grounds
- egg shells
- grass cuttings
- stable manure and bedding
- weeds (avoid persistent weeds)
- sawdust/wood ash (untreated wood only)
- shredded paper and torn cardboard, egg boxes etc
- dead flowers
- hedge prunings
- fallen leaves
What are the benefits of home composting?
- protects the environment by cutting the amount of waste going to landfill and the need for garden fires
- replaces peat products which are taken from important wildlife sites
- provides an excellent soil conditioner, adding organic matter and nutrients to improve poor soils
- helps maintain healthy plant growth
- reduces the need to transport waste
- saves money on shop bought composts
To encourage more people to recycle their garden waste, the council offers residents home compost bins at a fraction of the normal retail cost. Prices start at £17 and include free delivery – for further details go to the Recycle Now website or call 0845 077 0757.
For more information about waste and recycling in North Lincolnshire please contact the Customer Helpline on 01724 297000. Email wastemanagement@northlincs.gov.uk.