You can now download a useful infographic that shows exactly what happens to all of the rubbish and recycling collected by Dorset Council.
We also have videos that explain what happens to our recycling, food waste and garden waste.
Where Dorset's materials go to be recycled
After kerbside recycling is collected, it is taken to be sorted and bulked up at various locations across the county.
Any materials that can't be recycled - either because they are too low quality or there isn't a market for them - are sent to an Energy from Waste (EfW) facility in the UK or Europe, where they are incinerated to generate electricity.
The table below shows where different recyclable materials are sent after they have been sorted:
| Materials | Where it goes | What happens to it |
|---|---|---|
| Glass |
Recresco, South Wales URM Tilbury Docks |
Sorted by colour and washed to remove any impurities. Crushed and melted, then moulded into new products such as bottles and jars. |
| Newspapers and pamphlets | UPM Shotton, North Wales | Newspaper and paper |
| Mixed paper and cardboard | Saica, IFP Forest & Paper, Parenco | Recycled and turned into new paper and packaging material such as cardboard boxes |
| Plastic bottles | Recycling UK, J&A Young, Viridor, Centriforce, PPS, Newport CH, Materials Recovery, IFP, Newport Paper | Processed and remoulded into new plastic products or made into fuel to create energy |
| Food waste | Eco Sustainable Solutions, Piddlehinton, West Dorset | Anaerobic digestion, where food waste is used to create soil improver, compost and a renewable energy source |
| Garden waste |
Eco Sustainable Solutions, Parley, East Dorset Mark Farwell Composting, Stourpaine, North Dorset |
Composted and used in horticulture |
| Cans and unsorted materials |
Cans: Ferrous to EMR. Aluminium to Novelis Materials Recovery Facility, North Wales |
Materials are separated using a wide variety of sorting and screen technology and then sold to a variety of outlets |
What happens to items collected from household recycling centres and mini recycling banks?
Many items that cannot go in with kerbside collection can still be recycled; they just need to be taken to a household recycling centre (HRC) or a recycling bank at a car park.
Where materials collected at HRCs and recycling banks go:
| Materials | Where it goes | What happens to it |
|---|---|---|
| Batteries | Collected by Abby Metals Ltd. Then it is taken by S Norton and Co. in Liverpool and then sent to Varta Batteries, Belgium | Batteries are reprocessed and turned into new batteries. |
| Cardboard | St Regis paper Ltd, Kent | Cardboard from HRC's in Dorset is recycled used to make packaging. |
| Cartons (e.g. Tetrapak) | Sonoco Alcore paper mill in Stainland, West Yorkshire. | Wood fibres used to make industrial-strength coreboard, made into tubes and cores, around which paper, man-made fibre yarns, and metal and plastic film for industrial applications are wrapped. |
| Clothing and textiles | Transported by Wilcox Ltd to Wolverhampton sorted and split for recycling and reuse |
Textiles are graded; 10 per cent cannot be exported due to style or weight, these items are recycled and are then used to make industrial cleaning cloths and felt for cars. The other 90 per cent is sent overseas for reuse in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe. |
| Electrical appliances | Abbey Metals, Dorset, Bournemouth Autos, Bournemouth and SWEEP, Kent | The appliances are crushed and sorted using magnets and hand sorting. Plastics, metals and glass are separated for recycling. |
| Fluorescent lighting | Footprintmatters 2u Newport and Cambridge |
The mercury is used for lab and industrial uses. The aluminium goes back to the metal market. Glass is made into new light tubes. |
| Foil | Simms Metals, Nottingham |
It is melted into aluminium and turned into foil and cans. |
| Fridges and freezers | EMR Ltd., London | Metal and plastics are removed for recycling, CFC gases are incinerated and CFC free foam (degassed) is land-filled. |
| Garden waste | ECO Sustainable Solutions Ltd, Hurn, Weymouth and Stourpaine | Made into a nutrient rich compost and soil improver. |
| Glass | Recycled by Recresco, South Wales | Glass is re-melted and used to make new bottles and jars. |
| Metal | Abbey Metals, Dorset, and Bournemouth autos, Bournemouth.
Sims Group UK Ltd |
Smelted and turned into cars, aeroplanes, tin cans and other metal products. |
| Plasterboard | Country Style Recycling Ltd, Kent | Gypsum is used for more plasterboard and in the composting process. |
| Rubble | Commercial Recycling Ltd, Canford | Graded, washed, tumbled and re-marketed. |
| Televisions | SWEEP Ltd, Kent | Dismantled and plastic and metal recyclable parts are separated. Glass is treated to remove any hazardous components before being sent to be recycled. |
| Tyres | W&S Recycling, Wimborne | First the metal rims are removed, tyres are then shredded and used as 25 mm chips for the equestrian market. |
| Engine oil | Veoila, Southampton | Goes through a process called secondary liquid fuel blending which involves careful analysis by chemists, the fuel is then blended accordingly, and then used to fuel cement kilns. |
| Vegetable oil | Living Fuels - Nottingham | Filtered and refined into bio diesel which can then be used for fuelling buses, cars and lorries that run on bio-diesel. |
| Wood and timber | Eco Sustainable Solutions, Dorset | Shredded and separated into various grades for chip board, biomass fuels (energy recovery) and equestrian products. |