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 usually sent after they have been sorted but the destinations may change depending on capacity or most value for money on disposal costs.
| Materials | Where it goes | What happens to it |
|---|---|---|
| Glass | Recresco, South Wales URM (UK) Ltd |
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 | UPM Kymmene UK Ltd |
Recycled and turned into new paper and packaging material |
| Plastics | UPM Kymmene UK Ltd | Processed and remoulded into new plastic products or made into fuel to create energy |
| Food waste | Eco Sustainable Solutions, Piddlehinton & Parley Dorset | Anaerobic digestion, where food waste is used to create soil improver, compost and a renewable energy source |
| Garden waste | Eco Sustainable Solutions, Lodmoor Weymouth & Parley Mark Farwell Composting, Stourpaine |
Composted and used in horticulture |
| Cans | UPM Kymmene UK Ltd |
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.
The table below shows where materials collected at HRCs and recycling banks usually go but the destinations may change depending on capacity or most value for money on disposal costs.
| Materials | Where it goes | What happens to it |
|---|---|---|
| Batteries (car and pencil) | Envirowales Ltd Ecobat Resources UK Ltd |
Batteries are reprocessed with 95% of materials recycled. |
| Cardboard | Visy Recycling | 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 | Usman International (FZC) Salvation Army Trading Company Ltd |
Textiles are graded for reuse and also recycled to make industrial cleaning cloths/rags. |
| Electrical appliances | European Metal Recycling Ltd Sweeep Kuusakoski Ltd |
The appliances are crushed and sorted using magnets and hand sorting. Plastics, metals and glass are separated for recycling. |
| Fluorescent lighting | Recolight | 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 | European Metal Recycling Ltd |
It is melted into aluminium and turned into foil and cans. |
| Fridges and freezers | European Metal Recycling Ltd |
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 | Recresco URM (UK) Ltd |
Glass is re-melted and used to make new bottles and jars. |
| Scrap metal | European Metal Recycling Ltd |
Smelted and turned into cars, aeroplanes, tin cans and other metal products. |
| Plasterboard | Plasterboard Recycling Solutions Ltd |
Gypsum is used for more plasterboard and in the composting process. |
| Rubble (inert hardcore and concrete) | W&S Recycling | Graded, washed, tumbled and re-marketed. |
| Televisions | Sweeep Kuusakoski Ltd |
Dismantled and plastic and metal recyclable parts are separated. Glass is treated to remove any hazardous components before being sent to be recycled. |
| Tyres | Fraser Evans & Sons Ltd |
Repurposed for use including carpet underlay, all-weather training areas for horses, playgrounds, rubber matting, sports and recreational surfaces. |
| Engine oil | Slicker Recycling Ltd | Re-processed which produces a high-quality base oil product which is a key component in the production of brand new carbon-efficient lubricating oil. |
| Vegetable oil | Future Industrial Services Ltd |
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. |