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Inside a recycling centre: What happens to our rubbish?

Charlotte AndrewsSouth of England
News imageGetty Images Top‑down view of multiple green recycling crates, each filled with a different type of sorted waste. The crates contain clear plastic bottles, glass jars, newspapers and magazines, empty plastic jugs, aluminium cans, glass bottles, flattened cardboard, metal tins, and clear plastic food containers.Getty Images
In West Berkshire, each household is allocated two green recycling boxes to sort their rubbish into

You have rinsed the jars, flattened the cardboard and dutifully lined everything up on the kerb - but what happens to your recycling once that bin lorry pulls away? To find out, the BBC has been given a behind-the-scenes look at a Berkshire recycling facility.

The Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in Padworth is one of the places where dry mixed recycling is given a second life.

Inside, plastics, paper and tin cans begin a carefully choreographed journey through a wonderland of machinery and magnets.

Kerbside to conveyer belt

After dry mixed recycling is tipped off collection vehicles, it is loaded onto conveyor belts and enters the MRF - a large, loud and slightly niffy warehouse building.

The rubbish then goes through a series of machines to separate the waste.

News imageInside a large waste‑processing facility, a rubbish truck is tipping a load of mixed recyclable materials onto a massive pile. The truck is surrounded by heaps of plastic, paper, and other waste, with concrete walls and industrial equipment visible around the sorting area.
The site in Padworth handles the processing of household dry mixed recycling, including paper, card, plastic bottles, pots and cans

Separation and sorting

Large magnets pull out tin cans - like those used for baked beans and tomato soup.

Fizzy drink cans, and anything else made of aluminium, are picked out by eddy-current separators. These use magnetic fields to flick them sideways into a separate chute.

And optical sorting machines are used to identify different types of plastic. These automated, high-speed devices use cameras, and sensors separate items like milk bottles from soft drinks.

Contamination crisis

But even the most advanced machinery cannot achieve everything quite yet.

That is why site-owners Veolia also employ a dedicated team of pickers to remove the items that should never be put in recycling.

Hazardous things like vapes and batteries can pose a serious danger. Inside a high-speed facility, these contaminants can explode, spark fires or damage machinery.

News imageInside a waste‑sorting facility, a worker in protective clothing stands beside a conveyor belt covered with assorted plastic items and other recyclables. The worker is using a long tool to sort through the materials. High‑visibility jackets hang on the wall behind, along with safety signs and equipment.
Pickers sort through the recycling to find potentially dangerous items

Baling and dispatch

Once sorted, materials are compacted into dense cubes called bales - for those familiar with noughties children's films, think Monsters Inc. or Wall-E.

These plastic bottles, tins and cans then get sent to reprocessors across the UK and Europe, where they become new products like milk bottles, drink cans and food packaging.

After being sorted and graded, they are baled and sent to reprocessors to become new products such as milk bottles, drink cans, and food packaging.

News imageStacks of tightly compressed bales made from crushed aluminium cans are piled high inside an industrial waste‑processing facility. The bales form large rectangular blocks against tall concrete walls, with loose debris scattered across the floor.
Once separated, the recycling is crushed and baled

Elsewhere in the facility, paper, card and glass is separated into different bays.

The paper is then taken to mills across the UK, where it is turned into more paper and card.

Glass goes to smelters in London where it is melted down and used to make new jars and bottles.

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