What happens to your recycling
The mixed items are taken to SUEZ Material Recovery Facility in Birmingham and loaded onto conveyors to be sorted.
Once all the recycling is sorted and separated into different types of materials, this is sent to manufacturers who make it into new products. The majority of your recycling is reprocessed in the UK (around 85%).
The end destination of your recycling can change on a regular basis due to market demand. For more information please contact our customer services on 01993 861000.
Glass bottles and jars
These are taken to a glass re-processor URM in West Yorkshire. The sorting process begins with the removal of incorrect items. Clear, brown and green glass are then mechanically sorted.
The sorted glass is then melted in a furnace and then moulded or blown into new bottles or jars.
Plastics
More information about plastic recycling and why it is important is available from the Clear on plastics website.
Plastic pots, tubs, trays and bottles are sorted and separated on a conveyor belt and washed and chipped into smaller plastics pieces. These are then melted and made into pellets for moulding into new items such as bottles or garden furniture.
Non-recyclable plastics
Plastic waste collected in the grey rubbish bins and plastic bags from food waste are taken to the Ardley Energy Recovery Facility. It is processed and then burnt to produce electricity.
Garden waste
After collection, your garden waste is delivered to Severn Trent's Showell composing facility, near Chipping Norton. This large scale site enables faster composting as it reaches high temperatures. The garden waste is first shredded then stacked in long piles, known as windrows, which are regularly turned to produce compost. The process is monitored and closely managed to quality standards. Compost is then spread onto agricultural land.
Food waste
Your food waste is taken to an anaerobic digestion plant near Cassington. Anaerobic digestion uses micro-organisms to break down food waste, in the absence of oxygen, inside an enclosed system. As it breaks down it gives off methane, which is collected and converted into biogas and used to generate electricity, heat or transport fuels. It also creates a nutrient-rich digestate that can be used as a fertiliser for agriculture and in land regeneration.
Any plastic items mixed in with the food waste, including carrier bags and liners, will be removed at the start of the process and sent to an Energy Recovery Facility to be recycled into energy.
What happens to your Food Waste - pdf - 377 Kb
Recycled textiles and shoes
Your recycled clothes and shoes are either repurposed as second-hand clothes or as secondary raw materials for the car industry, building industry or textile industry.
What you can do to reduce the impact of clothing consumption on the environment:
1. Buy fewer clothes and shoes, or if possible buy higher quality products, which should last longer
2. Wear your clothes and shoes for 3 months longer
3. When you dispose of your clothes and shoes, take them to our nearest clothes collection bank rather than putting into your wheelie bins.