What happens to the materials I leave for recycling at the Household Waste Recycling Centres?
A vast range of materials can be taken to your local HWRC for recycling. For example, from here, paper is taken to a reprocessor where it is recycled into newsprint. Here it is mixed with water and pulped. Soap and chemicals are added to release the ink from the fibres. Plastics, metal, grit and other unwanted materials are removed through screening and centrifugal cleaning equipment. Passing the pulp through a series of flotation cells allows ink removal where the ink is floated off the paper and, following further treatment, the cleaned fibres are ready to be turned into the newsprint. The pulp is ninety-nine parts water and one part fibre when injected between two wire meshes to form a damp paper web on the newsprint machines. This paper web is passed through a series of presses and over steam-heated drying cylinders. The final machine process includes further successive treatments of pressure and heat to the paper for the optimum printing surface. For further information on recycli
