What happens to our recycling?
After our recycling is collected it is sent away to be made into new products, for details see below. The money generated is used to help provide the kerbside collection service.
Glass - bottles and jars are colour sorted and sent to a firm called Recresco, near Liverpool. Metal lids and plastic labels are removed and the glass is delivered to a British manufacturer and remade into new bottles and jars.
Aluminium – drinks cans get delivered to Novleis, a reprocessing company in Warrington, where they are melted down into aluminium sheets. These sheets are used to make new cans.
Steel – food cans are sent to UK manufacturers Corus, where they are recycled back into steel products like more cans, car parts or cookers.
Paper – newspaper and cardboard are delivered to Shotton Paper Mill in Deeside where it is turned into new paper products.
Batteries - go to a specialist recycling company G & P Batteries. They are then sent to Derbyshire or France for recycling. Mercury and Cadmium are removed and the remaining metals are turned into new products.
Why does kerbside recycling concentrate on picking up glass, cans, paper, batteries and mobile phones?
Kerbside recycling concentrates on collecting materials that cause the most environmental damage. The damage done by the materials we collect is explained below:
| Material | Environmental Damage |
| Glass, steel and aluminium cans | Open cast mines are needed to source raw materials |
| Paper, cardboard | Emit greenhouse gases in landfill, which contributes to global warming. They don't compost down as waste in landfill is compressed |
| Batteries | Leak chemicals into landfill and cause pollution |
