Posted on 5th April 2022

Where does my mixed recycling go? (updated monthly)

by dbdadmin

The Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) at our Smugglers Way Transfer Station processes mixed recycling delivered by our councils from their Recycling Sack and Bank schemes. This consists of all types of paper, cardboard, glass bottles and jars, clear and coloured PET plastic (e.g. drink bottles), clear and coloured HDPE plastic (e.g. laundry and washing-up liquid bottles) steel and aluminium cans and polycoat material (e.g. Tetra Pak). We request that any containers are rinsed out before they are put in the recycling bags or bins, both because we don’t want the materials to be contaminated and also because this helps prevent odours and pests being attracted to the recycling during the separation process. Further detail on what you can put in your recycling bag or bin can be found in our leaflet for residents.

When markets are available, before sending any recyclable material to a third party, our operational contractor Cory carries out an extensive due diligence process.  This process ensures that, as far as is reasonably possible, all of its material will be subsequently managed legally and in an environmentally responsible manner.  This is in addition to the “Duty of Care” checks it is legally required to carry out.

To find out what happens to the individual materials, please click on the links below:

High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) & Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Plastics:

HDPE Natural plastics (such as milk bottles)  &   PET  Natural/Clear (such as transparent drinks plastic bottles – water, Coke etc) plus PET Coloured (such as green transparent plastic bottles eg 7-up, Perrier) are processed in Lincolnshire (UK) and Netherlands.

The PET Clear is processed into food grade plastics (drinks bottles, sandwich trays and salad trays, etc).

The PET Coloured is processed into food grade plastics (drinks bottles, ready meal trays, etc.)

  • Bales are put into an articulated lorry at the MRF in Smugglers Way and taken to the facility.
  • The material is shredded and put on conveyor belts and any contaminants removed before being but through a sink tank (to separate out any unwanted plastic types, e.g.  bottle tops). These plastics are then sold locally in the UK and Europe to be made into new products.
  • Bottle tops are separated from the natural HDPE at the reprocessing centre in the sink tank and are sent to a secondary facility to be recycled.
  • The HDPE flakes are washed, dried, melted and pelletised before being mixed with some virgin material and made back into milk bottles.

Mixed Plastics are processed in the Spain.

  • Bales are put into an articulated lorry at the MRF in Smugglers Way and taken to the facility.
  • The mixed plastics are shredded and placed into a sink tank to separate the plastics into the different grades (i.e. PP, PS, PET, HDPE LDPE).
  • These flakes are then washed and dried before being bagged up and sent to the processing facility.
  • At the processing facility, the flakes are pelletised, mixed with virgin material (dependent on specification requirement or what is being made) and moulded into new products, such as wheeled bins and storage containers.
  • Dependent on the market, pellets can also be sold to other plastic manufacturers around Europe.
  • Any contaminants are sent to Energy from Waste Facilities in the UK.
  • Material is shredded and put on conveyors and any contaminants removed before being but through a sink tank (to separate out any unwanted plastic types, e.g. bottle tops). These plastics are then sold locally in the UK and Europe to be recycled.
  • The HDPE flakes are washed, dried, melted and pelletised before being mixed with virgin material and made into various products, including piping, detergent bottles and bag for life shopping bags.

Glass is processed in Tilbury (UK).

  • As glass cannot be baled it is collected loose in bulker trucks at the Smugglers Way MRF and taken to the sorting facility.
  • At the facility contaminants (non-glass materials, such as metals, paper labels and plastics) are removed. Metals are sent on to further facilities to be recycled, whilst other materials are send to landfill.
  • Metal bottle caps are filtered out at the front end of the MRF process with the glass due to their small size. These caps are a contaminant and therefore are removed by magnets, etc., and sent for recycling where markets can be found. However, as they are a composite item (i.e. they have a plastic disk stuck to the inside of them), they can be difficult to separate and recycle.
  • Glass is then sorted into the different colours (using light refraction) and then graded by size using numerous vibrating plates that act like a sieve.
  • The sorted contaminant-free cullet is then send to glass smelting plants in the UK and Europe to be recycled into new bottles, windows, or other glass products, or is otherwise (but rarely) used as an aggregate material.

Separated News & Pams go to mills in Netherlands and Germany. The process is very similar to that of the Mixed Paper/OCC described below:

  • Bales of News & Pams are put into an articulated lorry at the MRF in Smugglers Way and taken to the facility.
  • Bales are off-loaded and visually inspected for high levels of contaminants.
  • The material is shredded, cleaned, pulped and de-inked, with a whisk-like machine pulling any remaining contaminants out.
  • The pulp is then dried and rolled to make sheets which are used to make new newspapers.

OCC (Cardboard) is currently sent to facilities in Netherlands, Dagenham (UK) and Germany . Because the fibre lengths in cardboard are longer, the material is stronger and can be recycled more times than paper or newspaper.

  • Bales of cardboard are put into an articulated lorry at the MRF in Smugglers Way and taken to the facility.
  • Bales are off-loaded and visually inspected for high levels of contaminants.
  • Material is shredded, cleaned and pulped, with a whisk-like machine pulling any remaining contaminants out.
  • The pulp is then dried and rolled to make sheets which are then used to make new cardboard packaging.

When markets are available, Cory sends material to paper mills based in the Netherlands.

  • Bales of mixed paper are put into an articulated lorry at the MRF in Smugglers Way and taken to one of the facilities by road.
  • Bales are off-loaded and visually inspected for high levels of contaminants.    The bales will be re-sorted again into separate grades of paper (i.e. white, brown, card, etc.) and be processed at the mill or sold to other local European mills.
  • The separate grades of materials are shredded, cleaned and pulped with a whisk-like machine that pulls any remaining contaminants out.
  • The pulp is then dried and rolled to make sheets which is then used to make new packaging and various paper products like printing paper, tissue paper, cereal packets, packaging and card.
  • Any contaminants will either be recycled (in the case of metals and baling wire) and the remainder sent to Energy from Waste.

Steel cans are processed in Greece and Warwickshire (UK).

  • Bales of steel are put into an articulated lorry at the MRF in Smugglers Way and taken to the facility.
  • Bales are off-loaded at a bulking yard, where the bales are broken down and any contaminants removed.
  • Material is then taken to a  furnace where it is smelted into sheets that are used to make new cans, car or plane parts or anything else that is manufactured from steel.

Film is a low-quality plastic grade and is not accepted as a recyclable material at the MRF, with the exception of the clear recycling sacks that the mixed recycling is collected in. Cory are currently sending this material to an outlet in Peterborough (UK).

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