What happens to materials I put out for recycling?

 

Sometimes there are rumours that you spend your time separating your rubbish only to have it landfilled with the rest of your waste, please be assured Colchester Borough Council makes every effort to recycle all the materials you put out for recycling:

Glass - 9% of household waste. Glass bottles are melted down and made into new bottles. Less energy is required to melt cullet than convert raw material into glass. One tonne of recycled glass eliminates the need for 1.2 tonnes of raw materials.

Cans - 5% of household waste is metal. Steel and aluminium cans are also melted down and can be made into new cans and car parts. Every new steel can contains 25% recycled steel. Recycling cans saves energy - Aluminium can, 95% energy saving. Steel can, 75% energy saving. Recycling also reduces the need for aluminium ore mining and imports of the aluminium ore, bauxite.

Plastic Bottles - 6% of household waste, by weight. They can be turned into fleece jackets, rulers, furniture, drains and car dashboards. It requires 20,000 plastic bottles to recycle one tonne of plastic.

Paper & Card - 27% of household waste. To keep up with UK paper consumption, a forest the size of Wales is required every year. 2.5 million tonnes of paper ends up in landfill sites every year. so by recycling we save natural resources and energy - paper recycling uses 40% less energy and 40% less water than new paper manufacture.

Textiles - 3% of household waste. 95% of all textiles thrown away are recyclable. High quality second-hand old clothing can be sold for re-use, usually through charities. Medium grade textiles can be recycled into industrial rags and wiping cloths. Low grade textiles can be recycled to produce filling and flocking for the furnishing industry.

Oil - It only takes 1 litre of engine oil to pollute 700,000 litres of freshwater. It's an offence to pour engine oil down the drain. Engine oil can be recycled and refined for secondary use. Take used oil to an oil recycling bank. For free advice on engine oil disposal and to find your nearest Oil bank, contact the OIL CARE HELPLINE: 0800 663366.