Recycle, where does it go?

12:22 pm by admin.

I have always wondered just what happens to our waste that we’re always told to recycle goes. So I decided the best person to ask is the one who is in charge of the day-to-day operation of the Recycling for Castlereagh District  Council. Sarah Turley.  Now I know and if you read this so will you.

Q.”Hi Sarah how are you keeping? “

A. “Fine thanks Ivan.”

Q.” Can you tell me what your position is with Castlereagh Council? “

A. “I am the Council’s Recycling & Environment Officer. “

Q . “Most people just chuck their waste into the appropriate bin blue, brown and black but can you tell me what they are for? “

A. “Householders in Castlereagh have a black, blue  & brown bin or a black, brown and kerbie box system for recycling depending on where they live.

The black bin is for general rubbish- materials that we cannot currently recycle, such as nappies and plastic packaging.

For recycling householders will have either a blue bin or kerbie box. These are for mixed-dry recyclables (MDR’s) such as paper, cardboard, food and drinks cans and plastic bottles.

The kerbie box system also accepts glass, aluminum foil, textiles and hand tools.

The brown bin is for ‘compostable’ materials such as garden waste, this includes, grass cuttings, twigs & branches, hedge cuttings, plants & shrubs.

Over the next few weeks the Council will be introducing food waste into the brown bin. This will include the collection of both cooked and uncooked food such as meat & bones, dairy, bread, fish, fruit & vegetables & tea & coffee grounds.

“ Q. “When the lorry comes to collect our wheelie bin what happens to the various colours, I mean how are they sorted out? “

A. ” The general rubbish the Council collects in the black bin is sent to landfill. Recyclables collected in the blue bin are transported to a sorting facility (Material Recovery Facility – MRF) at Bryson Recycling in Mallusk.  Here they undergo both manual and mechanical sorting before being baled for onward transportation to reprocessors.

The materials collected in the kerbie box are sorted at kerbside before being taken to Bryson Recycling at Mallusk, where they are baled for onward transportation to reprocesors.

The brown bin materials are collected in Council Refuse Collection Vehicles (RCVs) and taken to a local composting facility. At present all garden waste is composted using windrows.

When food waste collections begin in December 2009 the brown bin waste will be composted by in-vessel composting. ”

Q. ” Is this handled by a private contractor or do the Council Handle it? “

A. “At present the Council collect the black, blue and brown bins from households.  Bryson Recycling is contracted by the Council to provide a kerbside collection service (kerbie box) to around 16,500 households.

Landfilled waste is taken to two private landfill sites – one at Mullaghglass, the other at Cottonmount.

Blue bin and kerbie box materials are taken to Bryson Recycling’s MRFat Mallusk.

Brown bin waste is taken to Natural World Products composting facility at Glenside, Belfast. ”

*Landfill, blue bin, brown bin and kerbie box contracts are awarded under contract.

Q “We all know that the garden waste goes for composting but what about the blue bin, it must be a hard job sorting out all the different materials? ”

A. “ With very specialised machinery the sorting process is much more efficient. Materials are sorted both by hand and machinery.

When blue bin materials are taken to the MRF, they are emptied into a warehouse. From here they are gradually fed on to a conveyor belt. The materials are then hand sorted and any contaminants contained in the load are removed such as plastic bags. Large pieces of cardboard are also removed at this stage.

The materials pass through various screens to separate 3 dimensional materials such as tins and plastic bottles from paper and card. The paper then passes through another hand sorting station where it is graded into high-grade news and pamphlets and lower grade mixed paper.

The aluminum cans and plastic bottles are separated using ‘an eddy current’; the current repels aluminium and attracts plastic bottles.

The end result of this sorting process is the collection of separate recycling materials: Paper, cardboard, plastic bottles & steel & aluminium cans. These are then passed through a bailer and stored ready for transportation to various recycling facilities.

The kerb side material is pre-sorted at site and therefore only needs to be placed on a conveyor and baled.

Q. ” I use the recycling centre a lot but where does all the stuff go after there? “

A. ” The Recycling centres at both Cregagh Road and Comber Road, Carryduff collect a large range of materials for recycling. These include:

Paper, cardboard, textiles, glass bottles, mobile phones, spectacles, batteries, aerosols, garden waste, paint, Waste Electronic Electric Equipment (WEEE), scrap metal, waxed coated cartons and the list goes on….

These items are sent on for recycling to various companies such as:

Aerosols are collected by ENVA- Northern Ireland, for metal recycling

Textiles are sent to the Salvation Army and Cookstown Textile recycling for textile recycling.

Glass and waxed coated cartons are collected by Glassdon Northern Ireland for recycling. “

Q ” What happens to the oil and batteries, they must be especially difficult? ”

A. ” Vegetable oils are collected by Agri- Energy and used to make bio-diesel.  Mineral oils are collected by ENVA and re-used. Both vehicle batteries and post consumer batteries are collected by ENVA, NI, where the plastics and metals are separated and recycled. “

Q ” Are there any plans to use any of the waste for power generation like come other cities in the UK mainland? ”

A. “Yes, the option of Energy from Waste (EfW) is included in the Council’s Waste Management Plan and also forms part of the Northern Ireland Waste Management Strategy. Please see http://www.arc21.org.uk/opencontent/?itemid=27&section=Residual+Waste+Project for more in-depth information on Energy from Waste. “

Q. ” What would you say to people who don’t think recycling is worth it? “

A ” Recycling is a ‘new’ behaviour for most people. It is sometimes difficult to encourage people to recycle but we are getting there. The recycling rate in Castlereagh Borough Council has been increasing steadily from 5% in 2002/3, to 38% in 2008/9 – with in-year quarterly highs of over 41%.

We try and work from the bottom up and teach children about recycling so ‘pester power’ can sometimes help to persuade parents to recycle.

But with regards to it being worth it, I would say absolutely.

Recycling not only diverts waste from landfill, reducing environmental damage caused by leachate and methane gas (produced by rotting waste), but also reduces the negative visual impact that landfills can have on the countryside.

It also provides jobs for the local market and produces revenue.

Recycling also saves energy for example: The energy saved in Recycling one can, produces enough energy to power your TV for 3 hours, it seems a waste to throw it into a landfill where it takes decades to degrade and is virtually useless.

Reduce, reuse, recycle is the message the Council tries to promote to schools and householders. Our waste is our responsibility.

We are moving away from landfill and therefore have to make use of our ‘waste’. We need to start thinking of our waste as a resource and therefore deal with it more effectively & efficiently.

Thank you Sarah, hopefully this will encourage more people to Recycle now that they can see it dosen’t just go to landfill.

Posted in Northern Ireland, Belfast, Environmental | No Comments »