The items that are placed in the kerbside recycling boxes go to a variety of recycling plants across the UK. They go through a recycling process that turns what was once waste into new products.
Click on a material below to find out how it is recycled:
Paper
Cardboard
Glass
Plastic bottles
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Food waste
Cans
Garden waste
Textiles
Paper
Paper is shredded and mixed with water. This produces a mixture called pulp that then goes through a ‘decontaminating' process to remove any paper clips, ink and adhesives.
The water is then removed from the pulp by pressing it through rollers and drying it. It is then ready to be turned into new newspapers and magazines. Whilst paper and card go through similar recycling processes, they are normally separated due to their different qualities.
Paper has a much longer fibre length and so can be used for a wider range of paper-based products - making it more economical to recycle. The fibre length of card is shorter, which limits what it can be turned back into.
Card is shredded and mixed with water. This produces a mixture called pulp that then goes through a ‘decontaminating' process to remove any adhesives, staples and ink.
The water is then removed from the pulp by pressing it through rollers and drying it. It is then ready to be turned into new products, including envelopes and cardboard.
The glass is crushed into small pieces called ‘cullet'. Non-glass is picked out along a conveyor belt. A magnet picks out all the metal (lids etc).
A vacuum then sucks up all the lightweight material, such as paper (labels etc). Finally, the cullet passes through laser beams that check that the glass is see-through. This is to make sure items like pottery are removed - via a blast of air.
The cullet is then taken to the furnace where it is melted at temperatures of 1500-1600oC. The melted glass is then used to make new glass bottles and jars. Other uses for recycled glass include aggregate for road construction, glass fibre and water filtration.
Once collected, plastic bottles are compacted and baled and sent to a recycling plant. Once at the plant, they are sorted by ‘polymer' (type), shredded and then melted to form pellets.
These pellets are then sent to a manufacturer of plastic goods who then melts the pellets down and forms them into new plastic products.
There are around 50 different types of plastic, but only certain polymers are readily recyclable. Plastic bottles can be used to make fleece jackets, park benches and compost bins as well as the kerbside recycling boxes that Somerset residents use.
Food waste is composted by a process called In-Vessel Composting (IVC). Food waste is shredded, mixed with garden waste and placed in large sheds (vessels). The waste is then composted in a vessel for 7 days, during which time air is pumped through the vessel.
The collected metals are taken to Taunton where they are separated by magnets and divided into steel and aluminium. The separated cans are crushed down and baled in ‘bricks'. These ‘bricks' are then sent away to the recycling plant in South Wales.
The bricks are then placed into a furnace, which melts the metal into ingots, which are then used by manufacturers to make new products, such as new cans and car parts. Steel and aluminium are very cost effective to recycle and the recycling markets are well established.
There are six composting plants throughout Somerset. Garden waste is shredded and left in big heaps called windrows. It is kept moist and turned regularly to aid the bacteria which break the waste down.
The bacteria in the heaped windrow generate heat that kills off weeds and bacteria (steam can be seen coming off the windrows). After three months it is sieved, bagged and sold as organic soil conditioner, to feed plants in gardens.
At the recycling plant the materials are separated into items that can be reused and items to be recycled.
Wearable items are sent off to developing countries to be reused. Cotton and silk make wiping cloths for industry, woolen fibres are reclaimed to make new yarns & fabrics, and shredded clothes are used as filling material for furniture and car seats.
