What happens to the materials you take to the Recycling
Centres?
Unbroken sheets are disposed of safely by specialist contractor
to a managed landfill site.
These are repaired by Jole Rider and distributed to developing
countries and local community groups.
These are collected by the British Heart Foundation and
resold.
Top of Page
These are collected by the Shaw Trust local charity and
resold.
Car Batteries are broken up in a huge crushing machine and
then sorted into their different parts.
- The plastic is recycled made into many different
products including Green Recycling boxes, furniture, paint trays,
car parts, drainpipes and more cases for car batteries.
- The lead is melted down to make products such as more car
batteries, guttering, and shields for X-ray machines in
hospitals.
- The acid is treated and neutralised.
- The distilled water is purified and used again.
Top of Page
The cardboard is recycled back into cardboard products such as
cardboard packaging.
To find out what happens to the cardboard collected as part of
the Cardboard & Garden Waste Collections, please go to What
Happens to the Compost Materials.
Cooking Oil is recycled into Bio diesel, which can be used to
fuel specially adapted vehicles. It may also be recycled into
industrial lubricants.
Top of Page
Small and large electrical appliances are take to a plant in
South Wales where they are broken down into their component
parts and either reused or recycled.
The Sofa Project also collects large household appliances which
are in good condition for repair and reuse where possible.
The oil is decanted into a large holding tank where it is boiled
up and left to settle. Any water is removed and the oil
is then filtered. This process is repeated to produce a watery
brown liquid that is used in furnaces at power stations and
quarries as an alternative, recycled fuel
Top of Page
If suitable, these may be refurbished and reused.
Otherwise, the CFCs are removed from them and the metal is
recycled.
These are dismantled, the hazardous components removed and the
other materials reused and recycled.
These are collected by the SOFA Project and repaired and reused
where possible.
Top of Page
Gas Bottles
Where possible, these are taken back by their suppliers.
Otherwise the valve is removed and the metal recycled.
The garden waste is composted locally at sites near Keynsham
& Marksbury and Frome. The material is shredded and put
into large open air mounds called windrows, where it gradually
turns into compost.
The finished product is sieved and sold to farmers and residents
of Bath and North East Somerset. To find out about purchasing this
compost, please go to
Compost for Sale.
Top of Page
Hazardous waste and chemicals are disposed of safely by a
specialist contractor.
Non Recyclable Bins
All the non recyclable material we collect is taken to
landfill sites. Most of this waste is taken by
train to Calvert landfill site in Buckingham shire. The waste
collected from the Welton site is taken by lorry
to Dimmer Landfill site in Somerset.
For further information go to
What happens to the refuse.
Top of Page
We have recycling banks for all the materials that we collect in
the green box including paper, cans (inc aerosols), plastic
bottles, foil, clothes and shoes, glass bottles and jars,
batteries, car batteries, engine oil, spectacles, mobile phones,
and toner and ink cartridges. To find out what happens to
these materials, please go to What happens to the Green Box
materials?
Top of Page
These are recycled and used as building materials and road
aggregate. The soil is reused.
The metals are separated and recycled back into a wide variety
of products from cans to bridges and aeroplane parts.
These are collected for reuse
Top of Page
These are sent to South Wales where they are split into their
component parts ready to be sent for recycling.
The plastic casing around the TVs is bulked up and sent to a
plant in the UK for recycling. The copper wiring and circuit boards
are sent to the nearest reprocessor in Belgium. The cathode ray
tubes (CRT) inside the TV set are cut open and cleaned to remove
the toxic coatings, and then sent to a recycling plant on the
continent where they are used to create new
CRTs.
Top of Page
The timber is chipped and used to make chipboard or used to fuel
power stations.
The steel rims are extracted and recycled. The tyres are then
used to fuel cement kilns.
