Earlier this year a party from Flitwick Guild visited the Recycling Facility at Elstow. They were so impressed by the dedication of the staff there towards recycling that they felt this enthusiasm should be shared with a wider audience. We therefore invited Shanks, through one of the Guild members who works there, to write an article for the Circuit Magazine.

Sorting it out at Elstow!

The facility at Elstow is a combination of a Materials' Recycling Facility (MRF) and a transfer station. Shanks have a 25-year contract to operate the facility in partnership with Bedfordshire County Council.

Each year, approximately 175,000 tonnes of domestic waste is disposed to landfill from Bedfordshire alone and the success of the orange sack recycling scheme is a result of Bedfordshire residents efforts to recycle. Each one of us produces ten times our own body weight of waste each year, that's equivalent to a garage full of rubbish for a family of four. So, every tonne of waste diverted from landfill to recycling is vital.

The orange sack recycling scheme began in 1998. Initially the scheme operated within Mid Bedfordshire for approximately 50,000 householders. Over the last 2 years however the scheme has undergone a major expansion and now covers some 160,000 householders within the council regions of Mid Bedfordshire, South Bedfordshire and Bedford Borough.

Around 90% of the material put into the orange bags by residents is successfully separated and sorted at the MRF.

Q. What goes in the sack?

A. Newspapers, Magazines, pamphlets, clear Plastic Bottles,

Coloured Plastic Bottles, Steel and AIuminium cans.

Q. What happens to the waste items which can't be recycled from the orange bags?

A. Even the waste is effectively recycled! It is sent to a company who process the waste into

a pellet to generate energy when it is burnt in a furnace.

Every week, around 175 tonnes of recyclables are sent from Elstow to be recycled into new products.

For example:

• PET Fizzy drinks bottles are made into fleece jackets. Did you know that it only takes 25 bottles to make an adult sized fleece jacket?
• Newspaper and cardboard are recycled into new newsprint and cardboard packaging. As it takes 17 trees to make one tonne of paper, that's 17 trees saved for every tonne recycled!
• Steel cans are recycled back into new steel cans. Of all the steel cans you buy your food and drinks in, 25% of all the cans have already been recycled!
• Aluminium cans become cans again. In just 6 days a can could be melted down, remade, filled with drink and be back on the supermarket shelf!
• HDPE coloured bottles are made into compost bins, water butts or watering cans, so you may be using your plastic bottles in the garden and not even know it!

... ... ..and there is so much more... ...

Recycling are you doing it?

Pages compiled by Peter Fletcher

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