What actually happens with our recycling?

[leginten]

I guess like many other people, I put a little bit of time and effort into sorting food waste and glass, paper, tins etc. But I’ve often wondered what actually happens to everything we put out on the pavement for collection - you hear so many stories about huge quantities of recyclable materials eventually being shipped abroad for incineration or simply ending up in landfill via a more circuitous route than the general waste. It was therefore pleasing to see the above tweet from the council this morning. It gives clear information about exactly what happens to food waste and what it ends up as.

 

The point of this thread is to ask if there’s anyone ITK about where the rest of our domestic recycling ends up. It’s very difficult to find information. Are there recycling plants near Edinbugh or elsewhere in the Central Belt where our glass, tins, paper/cardboard and plastics are converted back into something usable, or do they all go further afield? 
 

Grateful for any info.

[Ribble]

@Everybody loves Baz should be able to provide some insight

[The Gorgie]

I believe it goes to Ireland

[Stuart Lyon]

Who sorts out the rubbish that is put in street litter bins! 

[Auld Reekin']

17 minutes ago, Stuart Lyon said:

Who sorts out the rubbish that is put in street litter bins! 

 

h1b5 fans?  

[Japan Jambo]

2 hours ago, leginten said:

I guess like many other people, I put a little bit of time and effort into sorting food waste and glass, paper, tins etc. But I’ve often wondered what actually happens to everything we put out on the pavement for collection - you hear so many stories about huge quantities of recyclable materials eventually being shipped abroad for incineration or simply ending up in landfill via a more circuitous route than the general waste. It was therefore pleasing to see the above tweet from the council this morning. It gives clear information about exactly what happens to food waste and what it ends up as.

 

The point of this thread is to ask if there’s anyone ITK about where the rest of our domestic recycling ends up. It’s very difficult to find information. Are there recycling plants near Edinbugh or elsewhere in the Central Belt where our glass, tins, paper/cardboard and plastics are converted back into something usable, or do they all go further afield? 
 

Grateful for any info.

 

Really important for the council to demonstrate the virtue in this manner. I remember a few years ago in the US religiously separating my stuff only to watch them collect and dump it all in the back of the same lorry thus totally negating my efforts!!

 

[leginten]

Just now, jonesy said:

A friend of mine was told by someone who works in the council that a lot of 'recycling' ends up in landfill due to a) low processing capacity, b) the high cost of processing, c) people not sorting things properly. That was about five years ago, so hopefully things have improved.

I think that’s what a lot of people probably suspect and worry about. That’s why I was pleased to see the tweet on food waste this morning. I’m far from being an admirer of CEC, but credit where it’s due. I’d now like to see them put out similar information about the rest of the recycling.

[Jeff]

Wasn't a lot of it shipped to Asia recently?

[Der Kaiser]

I have to admit I gave up on the waste food recycling. Kept forgetting to put it out as on a different day than the bins so jacked it in.

Now store old bog roll cardboard tubes in it as kindling for the chimnea.

 

Still recycle everything else.

I recycle my own garden waste into the woodland nearby. Free nutrients to help promote growth. And I disperse it at night....just feels right to do this under cover of darkness.....

 

 

 

[ri Alban]

7 minutes ago, Der Kaiser said:

I have to admit I gave up on the waste food recycling. Kept forgetting to put it out as on a different day than the bins so jacked it in.

Now store old bog roll cardboard tubes in it as kindling for the chimnea.

 

Still recycle everything else.

I recycle my own garden waste into the woodland nearby. Free nutrients to help promote growth. And I disperse it at night....just feels right to do this under cover of darkness.....

 

 

 

[Ribble]

38 minutes ago, Der Kaiser said:

I have to admit I gave up on the waste food recycling. Kept forgetting to put it out as on a different day than the bins so jacked it in.

Now store old bog roll cardboard tubes in it as kindling for the chimnea.

 

Still recycle everything else.

I recycle my own garden waste into the woodland nearby. Free nutrients to help promote growth. And I disperse it at night....just feels right to do this under cover of darkness.....

 

 

 

 

Just moved over the water to fife and most houses have 4 bins - Landfill, paper/card, Glass and food/garden waste, we're temporarily staying with her sister in a flat with no garden so only get 3 bins and have to put food waste in the landfill bin that is only collected fortnightly.

 

[Der Kaiser]

1 hour ago, ri Alban said:

 

It might look like my flatbed but you can't see the driver so there's no proof that's me....

[ri Alban]

35 minutes ago, Der Kaiser said:

 

It might look like my flatbed but you can't see the driver so there's no proof that's me....

 

😆

[Sawdust Caesar]

In our office, about 5 years ago, the woman in charge of recycling was invited by Biffa to their recycling plant. She told us afterwards that if the items are dirty they go straight to landfill as Biffa don't have enough staff to wash them. She also told us about mixing different items in the same bin can contaminate the batch which also goes to landfill, which I was dubious about. After all in my street the plastic/packaging recycling bin takes plastic, tin cans, cardboard, envelopes amongst other things all go in the same bin. I've possibly misheard her when she said that so I could be typing nonsense.

[SectionDJambo]

19 minutes ago, Sawdust Caesar said:

In our office, about 5 years ago, the woman in charge of recycling was invited by Biffa to their recycling plant. She told us afterwards that if the items are dirty they go straight to landfill as Biffa don't have enough staff to wash them. She also told us about mixing different items in the same bin can contaminate the batch which also goes to landfill, which I was dubious about. After all in my street the plastic/packaging recycling bin takes plastic, tin cans, cardboard, envelopes amongst other things all go in the same bin. I've possibly misheard her when she said that so I could be typing nonsense.

Midlothian Council have said in their literature that they get charged by the recycling company if the plastic, cardboard, tins etc aren’t clean.

I always make sure mine is as it should be, sometimes to the point of being obsessed. I had occasion to look in my in laws’ recycling bin recently and found plastic containers that had been flung in with food still on them. I asked them, gently, about it and was told they didn’t have time to wash out butter packaging, baked beans tins etc.. They’re both retired with all the time in the world on their hands.

Too many people just don’t want to play their part in the recycling process even though they will be the first to complain when the council services might be cut because they can’t be bothered washing out containers, to prevent the council being charged for their laziness.

 

[Sawdust Caesar]

1 hour ago, SectionDJambo said:

Midlothian Council have said in their literature that they get charged by the recycling company if the plastic, cardboard, tins etc aren’t clean.

I always make sure mine is as it should be, sometimes to the point of being obsessed. I had occasion to look in my in laws’ recycling bin recently and found plastic containers that had been flung in with food still on them. I asked them, gently, about it and was told they didn’t have time to wash out butter packaging, baked beans tins etc.. They’re both retired with all the time in the world on their hands.

Too many people just don’t want to play their part in the recycling process even though they will be the first to complain when the council services might be cut because they can’t be bothered washing out containers, to prevent the council being charged for their laziness.

 

Never knew that.

 

I also clean everything that I put in the recycling, although when I see what some folk put in the 2 bins in my street, I do wonder why I bother, I'll keep on doing it though. If I'm going to do it may as well do it properly.

 

In my street a lot of recycling ends up in the landfill bins mainly because the recycling bins are emptied on a Sunday and full by the Tuesday, so folks just end up dumping it in the landfill bins. 

[Mr Brightside]

7 hours ago, jonesy said:

A friend of mine was told by someone who works in the council that a lot of 'recycling' ends up in landfill due to a) low processing capacity, b) the high cost of processing, c) people not sorting things properly. That was about five years ago, so hopefully things have improved.

That’s certainly not the case now for Edinburgh council as no waste from Edinburgh goes to landfill anymore more.

Foodwaste - AD plant at Millerhill

Residual waste (grey bin) - Energy from waste plant at Millerhill.

Garden waste - Think this goes to Forth Resource Management for composting.

Glass - Third party glass plant for recycling.

Dry Recyclates - Third party Material Recycling Facility for separation. The separated material will then be sent for recycling.

 

[Herbert.]

We have recycling bins at work, They get emptied into the same bin and presumably sent to landfill. The cleaners usually just tip the paper bin into the normal bin to save bags. 

[Tommy Brown]

Where does dog poo bins end up.

Landfill,  I assume?

 

I hate this plastic bag caper. Put your dog crap, 3 to 4 a day in a plastic bags that will last 1000 years in landfill (the plastic, not the crap)

Need biodegradable version or paper 

[Cade]

There's tons of biodegradable plastic bags out there.  

I use them for my food caddy.

 

Edited October 12, 2021 by Cade

[Doctor FinnBarr]

Civil Amenities site in Blackburn before Covid had separate skips or containers for bagged waste/wood/paper/cardboard/small electrical items/clothing and tvs and fridges. Wood/paper and cardboard have all now gone, everyone of that 3 now goes into bagged waste ie. landfill.

House bins we have are grey(landfill), blue (recycling) and brown (garden and food waste). Binman who lives next door will empty any coloured bin into the bin lorry no matter what colour bin it should be that day including his rest days when he's out in a dressing gown doing it.

No prizes for guessing what team in Lochend he supports.

[jambo89]

7 hours ago, Tommy Brown said:

Where does dog poo bins end up.

Landfill,  I assume?

 

I hate this plastic bag caper. Put your dog crap, 3 to 4 a day in a plastic bags that will last 1000 years in landfill (the plastic, not the crap)

Need biodegradable version or paper 

 

There's lots of Biodegradable dog poo bags out there. I bought some from Poundstrecher a couple of months ago similar to these:

 

https://greenpoopbag.co.uk/

 

 

6 hours ago, FinnBarr Saunders said:

Civil Amenities site in Blackburn before Covid had separate skips or containers for bagged waste/wood/paper/cardboard/small electrical items/clothing and tvs and fridges. Wood/paper and cardboard have all now gone, everyone of that 3 now goes into bagged waste ie. landfill.

House bins we have are grey(landfill), blue (recycling) and brown (garden and food waste). Binman who lives next door will empty any coloured bin into the bin lorry no matter what colour bin it should be that day including his rest days when he's out in a dressing gown doing it.

No prizes for guessing what team in Lochend he supports.

 

Last time I went to the recycling centre, the containers were sperated agaon i.e. no longer just bagged and or non bagged.

 

West Lothian are about to get a fourth bin too iirc. one for plastic and tin, one for paper and cardboard, one for food and garden waste and one for genral waste.

[Irufushi]

9 hours ago, Tommy Brown said:

Where does dog poo bins end up.

Landfill,  I assume?

 

I hate this plastic bag caper. Put your dog crap, 3 to 4 a day in a plastic bags that will last 1000 years in landfill (the plastic, not the crap)

Need biodegradable version or paper 

Just leave the shit on the pavement, that’s what most folk seem to do these days.

 

*****. 

[jack D and coke]

10 hours ago, Tommy Brown said:

Where does dog poo bins end up.

Landfill,  I assume?

 

I hate this plastic bag caper. Put your dog crap, 3 to 4 a day in a plastic bags that will last 1000 years in landfill (the plastic, not the crap)

Need biodegradable version or paper 

The ones who tie it to a branch on a tree or whatever…

These people deserve death. Brutally murdered with a blunt instrument. 

[Taffin]

Never mind poo bags, pet ownership is environmentally unfriendly in general.

[jack D and coke]

14 minutes ago, Taffin said:

Never mind poo bags, pet ownership is environmentally unfriendly in general.

Women and dogs these days too…or not real dogs anyway all these mongrel things that cost about 6 grand. Any bursd that has one of those hideous cockerlabrajackpoodledoos and talks to it like a child and posts pictures all over their Facebook…

 

[Tazio]

Some arse next to my work dumped a badly painted chest of drawers next to the street bins along with some other items. Which of course the binmen, correctly, didn't lift so it's now just sitting there making the street look untidy. 

[Tommy Brown]

4 hours ago, Irufushi said:

Just leave the shit on the pavement, that’s what most folk seem to do these days.

 

*****. 

No, I prefer to bag and hang onto a tree as it winds up @jack D and coke

[Jambo-Jimbo]

Just 2 different bins here in the Borders.

Blue Bin - Recycling, which is paper, metal & plastics (all in the same bin).

Black Bin - General waste, basically everything that's not recyclable, including food.

Bins get emptied every fortnight, general waste on a Tuesday and recycling on a Wednesday, a week apart.

 

Used to also have a green bin which was for garden waste, but the council stopped collecting them a good number of years ago, now garden waste collections are done by private companies.

[leginten]

2 minutes ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

Just 2 different bins here in the Borders.

Blue Bin - Recycling, which is paper, metal & plastics (all in the same bin).

Black Bin - General waste, basically everything that's not recyclable, including food.

Bins get emptied every fortnight, general waste on a Tuesday and recycling on a Wednesday, a week apart.

 

Used to also have a green bin which was for garden waste, but the council stopped collecting them a good number of years ago, now garden waste collections are done by private companies.

I think Edinbugh is now charging £35 a year for garden waste uplift. It was £25 previously and free before that. Personally I don’t mind paying it - not everybody has a garden, and there’s always the option of taking the stuff along to the tip yourself if you have a car. But I guess it’s not ideal for everyone.

[jack D and coke]

10 minutes ago, Tommy Brown said:

No, I prefer to bag and hang onto a tree as it winds up @jack D and coke

🤬😂

[leginten]

16 hours ago, Mr Brightside said:

That’s certainly not the case now for Edinburgh council as no waste from Edinburgh goes to landfill anymore more.

Foodwaste - AD plant at Millerhill

Residual waste (grey bin) - Energy from waste plant at Millerhill.

Garden waste - Think this goes to Forth Resource Management for composting.

Glass - Third party glass plant for recycling.

Dry Recyclates - Third party Material Recycling Facility for separation. The separated material will then be sent for recycling.

 

Thanks for this information. All in all, that’s pretty reassuring.

[Japan Jambo]

2 hours ago, jack D and coke said:

Women and dogs these days too…or not real dogs anyway all these mongrel things that cost about 6 grand. Any bursd that has one of those hideous cockerlabrajackpoodledoos and talks to it like a child and posts pictures all over their Facebook…

 

 

have to admit I get a rise out of that stuff, back in the day the dog would be nick named 'Heinz' and you wouldn't be able to give it away...

[Pap]

I could be wrong but i'm you can use carrier bags for food recycling (?) Bags that can be recycled anyway.

[Doctor FinnBarr]

9 hours ago, jambo89 said:

 

There's lots of Biodegradable dog poo bags out there. I bought some from Poundstrecher a couple of months ago similar to these:

 

https://greenpoopbag.co.uk/

 

 

 

Last time I went to the recycling centre, the containers were sperated agaon i.e. no longer just bagged and or non bagged.

 

West Lothian are about to get a fourth bin too iirc. one for plastic and tin, one for paper and cardboard, one for food and garden waste and one for genral waste.

 

 Correct, I had to visit the Blackburn site today and it has indeed returned to normal.

[Tommy Brown]

10 hours ago, jambo89 said:

 

There's lots of Biodegradable dog poo bags out there. I bought some from Poundstrecher a couple of months ago similar to these:

 

 

Cheers for that, will get some ordered.

[jack D and coke]

32 minutes ago, Lord BJ said:

You would hate my missus, albeit I think it’s insta not Facebook. (Do people still use Facebook?) The dog has its own insta account FFS. 
 

In fairness the mutt is one the family and the missus treats the dog as such. It is almost like a surrogate child for her and sibling to kids.
 

If I ever want to ‘trigger’ the wife, which can be quite often, I just have a pop at the dog and call it ugly or something similar. She will then be personally offended. Not too dissimilar to how you react when someone says something ‘bad’ about SNP😂

 

The thing that really ****s me off. Is the dog has more toys than I did as a bairn😡

 

That said I love the mutt myself and can’t lie have caught myself ‘dog/baby’ talking to it when know one is about. 🙈

It’s not a dog it’s a pet. 

 

 

 

I’ve had 5 German Shephards over the years growing up etc and I loved my best pals but it’s went silly now. Maybe it’s just social media and how’s its completely ruined by middle aged women in particular. Some middle aged men are utter Jack n Danny’s on these platforms as well though let’s be honest here I use social media and here tbh when I’m properly pished and cringe my tits off the next day so I’m sure people feel same about me  
Your incorrect about one thing though neebs Im not a fan of the SNP, or certainly not this lot anyway but I get offended when people mock Scotland😬
It’s not the same and you’re definitely clever enough to know that😉

[jack D and coke]

4 minutes ago, Lord BJ said:

social media always magnified things🤷🏻‍♂️ 
 

Your correct I’m definitely clever enough to understand that, I’m also see your postings which don’t really back up your claims.🤷🏻‍♂️
 

That’s causes some confusion. I’ll take your word for it but perception is reality,  on the semi annoynmous board. Anyway was a just little bit of a fun after your scandalous attack on my missus 👍

 

As an aside friend of mine just got a new gun dog. **** that’s next level dog obeisance and friendship. 

 

 

If I ever get another it’ll be a lab, Fox red probs or I might get a husky. Just so tying having a dog I’m right out the habit of having to think about other people never mind other things that need my time. 
My sister had a bichon and she was about as bad with all that nonsense.
Forward my apologies to mrs Lord BJ  

[Jambo-Jimbo]

4 hours ago, leginten said:

I think Edinbugh is now charging £35 a year for garden waste uplift. It was £25 previously and free before that. Personally I don’t mind paying it - not everybody has a garden, and there’s always the option of taking the stuff along to the tip yourself if you have a car. But I guess it’s not ideal for everyone.

 

The one we were with charged £5 per bin, which cost us around about £40 per year, nowadays we just take the garden waste up to the council recycling centre at Eshiels, near Peebles.

[Mr Brightside]

6 hours ago, leginten said:

Thanks for this information. All in all, that’s pretty reassuring.

No worries. Important thing to note is that it’s different for each local authority.

By 2025 there will be minimal landfilling in the uk and energy from waste facilities will process  residual waste.

 

Another key thing is everyone has to do their part. It’s easy to blame councils but if individuals don’t sort their recycling properly this leads to more rejected material that can’t be recycled.

[Mr Brightside]

4 hours ago, Pap said:

I could be wrong but i'm you can use carrier bags for food recycling (?) Bags that can be recycled anyway.

It depends. If your in Edinburgh then carrier bags are easier for the depackaging equipment to manage and remove before the food waste goes into the digesters.

 

When food waste is treated by anaerobic digestion, the biobags don’t break down in time. If the food waste is treated by traditional composting then biobags are better as there is more time for them to break down.