What happens to your recycling?

Following collection from your property or local Neighbourhood Recycling Centre, recyclables make their way to a Materials Recycling Facility. Here they are processed before being transported to a final destination to be recycled. The global nature of the recycling market means that to be recycled these materials could be transported locally or across the world. 

Plastics are often exported to China to be recycled while cardboard and paper have various destinations across Europe and Asia. As the material collected in Broxbourne is of a high quality, all material is recycled. The companies used to recycle the material are reputable and quality checks carried out by the Environment Agency and Customs and Excise ensure that the material does not impact on the environment in other parts of the world. 

Although the recyclables can be transported long distances they are often transported in container ships returning to destinations after bringing goods to the UK. These containers would otherwise be returning empty.

However, some of your recycled material is reprocessed locally. Your green waste is transported to a composting facility at Ridge, near Potters Bar. The fertiliser produced is used on nearby farms reducing the impact of transportation making it an even more environmentally friendly process. 

Glass bottles collected from Neighbourhood Recycling Centres are taken to Harlow where they are turned back into bottles onsite.

Following reprocessing, materials can be made into a variety of items such as car and aeroplane parts, insulation for lofts and walls and fleeces.

Recycling is useful in not only reducing waste but in making new products.