What Happens to the Materials Collected
Paper
The paper is initially delivered to Wealden District Council's Materials Reclamation Facility (MRF) in Uckfield. The paper is stored under cover prior to being transported in larger quantities to Aylesford Newsprint in Kent, where it is made into 100% recycled newsprint called Renaissance. This is used by many of the national papers as well as local papers. It is used exclusively by the Friday-Ad group for example.
Cans and foil
All recyclable materials are delivered initially to Wealden District Council's Materials Reclamation Facility (MRF) in Uckfield. Here they are sorted, any contaminants are removed, and they are bulked up prior to being transported to the works where they are recycled into new products.
- Steel cans go to South Wales to be de-tinned and are then used by Corus (ex-British Steel) for a variety of new steel goods. All steel products contain about 25% recycled material. The old cans may become scissors, paper clips, mountain bikes or fridges.
- Aluminium cans are recycled back into new aluminium drinks cans by Novelis (formerly Alcan), which is a purpose built facility in Warrington, Cheshire. This plant takes used aluminium cans from all over Europe.
- Aluminium foil is bailed at our MRF and taken along with the aluminium cans to Cheshire for recycling.
Glass
The separate colours of glass are collected from the recycling points using split compartment vehicles and taken to our MRF in Uckfield where it is stored ready for collection. It is then taken to British Glass (also known as United Glass) in Harlow, Essex where the glass is crushed and screened to make 'cullet', which is used as a substitute for the raw materials used to make new glass.
Remaining waste from your landfill bin
The remaining waste is taken to one of the two landfill sites in East Sussex, either Beddingham near Lewes, or Pebsham between Bexhill and Hastings, which are run by East Sussex County Council's Contractors, Veolia Environmental Services. It is tipped into disused quarry workings and buried. One of the problems with landfill sites is the emission of landfill gas, which contributes towards global warming. Both landfill sites used have gas extraction systems which capture up to half the gas generated and turn it into electricity on site.
