What Happens to the Material that we Recycle
An explanation of where all the recyclable materials go after being collected from the Kennet district
Everything that is collected from the kerbside by Kennet District Council or from the Neighbourhood Bring Sites and Household Recycling Centres is taken to the Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) at Compton Bassett to be sorted and prepared for delivery.
Paper
All paper colleted from the kerbside and the bring sites is taken to the MRF and then on to the Aylesford mill, where it is reprocessed into newspapers. Some newspaper is shredded in the MRF and sold to local stables for use as dust-free animal bedding
Cardboard & Mixed Paper
This is sorted into Cardboard and paper – the paper goes to Aylesford and the Cardboard is sent to Severnside Recycling, where it becomes cardboard packaging
Glass
Glass is sorted at the MRF into colour and loaded for delivery to South Kirby Mill, where it is reprocessed back into glass bottles and put onto the shelves as green, brown or clear bottles.
Cans & Tins
These are separated into aluminium and steel cans at the MRF and taken to the reprocessing mills in Warrington (Alcan, Aluminium) and Freeth (Port Talbot)
Silver Foil
Silver foil is stored at Compton Bassett and collected weekly by a charity from Chippenham, called Middlefield Day Centre. The money raised from collecting the foil goes towards buying garden equipment for the centre.
Plastic Bottles
Plastic bottles are collected from the HRCs and taken to the MRF where they are baled and sent to Loughborough to be sorted into their various polymer types. They are reprocessed into more plastic bottles or mixed plastic, which can be used as a wood substitute for signs, tables etc.
Textiles
Textiles from Kennet Bring Sites are collected by Devizes Textiles who send the majority to developing and East European countries for re-use. Unusable clothes are used as stuffing or for industrial wiping rags. Textiles collected from black boxes are taken to Bilston, West Midlands for recycling.
Green Garden Waste
Garden waste collected by the wheelie bin scheme and through the HRCs is taken to the composting site at Compton Bassett where it is turned into a soil conditioner. This compost is then sold back to the public at the HRCs to be used on their gardens. It is peat free, organic and conforms to BS PAS100.
Rubble & Soil
Rubble is collected at Compton Bassett and then taken to a site near Newbury run by Hills where it is screened for sale to the construction industry. Soil is used for composting at Compton Bassett.
Metals, White Goods
These are taken to local scrap merchants, including EMR, Shanleys and Ransomes for sorting and reprocessing.