What happens to your recycling and organic waste

Have you ever wondered what happens to the recycling that is collected from your home?

Once your recycling has been collected from your home it is taken to a state of the art Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) located in the London Borough of Southwark.

1. The materials are unloaded from the vehicles and placed onto a moving belt.
2. Bulky materials such as cardboard boxes and various types of plastic are handpicked and stored in containers.
3. Then various mechanical processes separate glass, steel, aluminium, paper, cartons and plastics from each other.
4. An additional manual sorting of items then takes place.
5. Finally, a mechanical unit identifies any materials that have not been separated in the previous stages. Once separated, the materials are sent to different companies to create new products.

If you want further information on this process email recyclemore@brent.gov.uk

What happens to your organic waste? (needs updating)

The food and garden waste we collect from households across Brent is taken to a composting facility run by West London Composting, based in Harefield.

1. The contents are unloaded and shredded to break down any large items of garden waste.
2. The material is then placed into a controlled environment for ten days.
3. The temperature must reach at least 60c for two of those days.
4. The organic material is transferred to another container where the above process is repeated.
5. After this stage the material is placed outside where it matures for six to eight weeks.
6. Finally the material is screened and sold on as compost.