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• What happens to the material

What happens to the material

Glass

Glass is taken to a treatment plant where it is washed to remove any impurities. The glass is crushed and melted, then moulded into new products such as bottles and jars.

Glass does not degrade through the recycling process, so it can be recycled again and again.

Paper

Once at the recycling plant, paper is separated into types and grades. The paper is then washed to remove inks, plastic film, staples and glue. It is put into a large tank where it is mixed with water to create "slurry". The slurry is spread using large rollers into large thin sheets. The paper is left to dry, and then it is rolled up ready to be cut and sent back to printers ready to be used again. The paper fibres become shorter everytime they are recycled so to preserve the strength of the paper new wood pulp is mixed in with the recycled material. Most of the Kerb-it paper is made into newsprint.

Aluminium

Aluminium is collected from your recycling bins and taken to a treatment plant. It then goes through a re-melt process and turns into molten aluminium –this removes the coatings and inks that may be present on the metal. The metal is then made into large blocks, each one containing about 1.6million drinks cans. This is then made into more aluminium products. Aluminium does not degrade through recycling and can be used again and again.

Steel

Your steel cans (most tin can are in fact steel) are sent to metal processing plants where they are melted down and rolled out into steel sheets ready to make new things. The furnace burns off any paper covering or other decoration. Steel does not degrade through recycle and can be used again and again.

Did you know that:

• One recycled tin can would save enough energy to power a television for three hours.
• One recycled glass bottle would save enough energy to power a computer for 25 minutes.
• One recycled plastic bottle would save enough energy to power a 60-watt light bulb for three hours.
• 70 per cent less energy is required to recycle paper compared to making it from raw materials.