Anyone wonder if things are actually recycled?

[JKDcot]

I really hate separating the plastic, glass and paper from our rubbish to recycle it. But I diligently clean and separate it all because of course we must recycle for the environment.

They definitely do recycle it right? It doesn’t end up in shipping containers being sent somewhere else to bury??? I saw an awful documentary years ago where a council was caught doing this. Does everyone believe it’s being done properly???

My council only recycle about a quarter. So, yes, I assume the rest must end up in lanfill or ahipped to China or whatever. You should be able to see what percentage your council recycle on their website.

My DH works for a packaging company that only uses reclaimed paper/cardboard. It’s a complicated process but the factory is working to be carbon neutral, recycle the water used in the processing etc. He could bore for England on the topic but the factory uses 90% of all the recycling waste from our local council. So yes (if you live in the North West!) then it does get recycled.

The waste industry is complex but yes massive efforts are made to recycle product

Glass definitely does where I live. I've been to the factory it goes to.
I can't imagine the Council would go to the expense of collecting food waste and recycling separately if it wasn't recycled.
(I remember from some TV documentary that plastic is still likely to end up in Asia/China as there are very few factories that recycle it in the UK).

From what I understand it varies council to council - but there’s normally more success recycling glass and tins than paper and plastic because they can be used over and over again. Also if someone puts something ‘wrong’ in the recycling it can contaminate a whole batch.

Really? What about all the metal, glass, plastic, wood etc.

What does his company do with those?

The waste and manufacturing industry has hundreds of sites recycling different bits of things. Eg traffic cones made out of recycled plastics & flooring, cables stripped and the metal recycled, plastic granulated and melted & reformed etc etc

Glass and aluminium/ steel cans are always recycled and turned into new products wherever you are because they're so efficient to melt down and so energy intensive to make from the original rock.

Those are the things that we'll always make a specific effort to carry home to recycle from a picnic or whatever (assuming there isn't a recycling bin where we are). Take a look at the huge scars on the earth from bauxite mines and the enormous electrically powered pots where they physically melt the aluminium out of the rock using sheer heat and you'll understand why it's always worth recycling cans (and glass).

Plastic and cardboard are more hit and miss because of contamination but the cardboard packaging industry certainly does try to use recycled card and paper to make its product wherever possible.

I think it is good to ask questions like this. I am sure the answer will vary from place to place. In the UK because councils do everything to lowest bid, I imagine a lot does not actually get recycled. Recycling is expensive, and there are often few incentives.
Can you ask your council what happens to the recycling?

I don't know what % my council recycle. But they are quite happy to rip un hundreds of acres of ecosystem for houses and commercial buildings.

My recycling doesn't get recycled because I live in flats with massive communal bins and people are constantly "contaminating" the bins with any old crap.
I can't take it to community bins (like ones at supermarkets) because they've all been removed due to people frequently contaminating those too and leaving huge piles of other crap like sofas and mattresses propped up next to them or loads of random black bags that get ripped and everything gets wet and all over the place.
If I ever had a reason to have a skip I expect it would be like the one Victor Meldrew had...
Pisses me off. I have come to the conclusion that 95% of the population doesn't give a toss about recycling 🙁

Yes it does all get recycled. Mixed recycling from my area goes to a huge sorting centre (see video) attached to the paper mill at Deeside, where it's separated into different streams (paper/glass/plastics/steel/aluminium etc.) and shipped off for further recycling.

This makes me happy!