Did You Know? Every year UK households throw away the equivalent in waste of 31/2 million double-decker buses (more than 30 million tonnes), a queue of which would stretch from London to Sydney (Australia) and back - isn’t it time to make that New years resolution to recycle more? Bedfordshire Recycling Facilities The main recycling facilities within Bedfordshire include: Local Recycling Sites A Local Recycling Site is an area that provides banks for materials including textiles, paper and glass. Examples are found in supermarket car-parks. There are 144 in Bedfordshire and these can be found by contacting your Borough/District Council. Bottle bank, see picture 1. Did you know a massive one billion Christmas cards (17 for every man, woman and child) could end up in bins across the UK this Christmas! Make sure yours get recycled using your kerbside recycling collection scheme or taking them to charity Christmas card recycling containers located in WHSmith and Tesco stores during January 2006. A prickly eight Million Christmas trees will be bought this year in the UK, generating over 12,000 tonnes of additional rubbish, that’s nearly six times the weight of the London EYE! Real Christmas Trees can be recycled using your kerbside garden waste collection or your local Household waste Recycling Centre. Bedfordshire County Council provides 5 Household Waste Recycling Centres to enable householders in Bedfordshire to recycle and dispose of their household waste. Recyclable material which is accepted at the sites include: glass bottles and jars, garden waste, wood, corrugated cardboard, paper, books, magazines, cans, textiles, scrap metal, fridges, freezers, white goods, household and car batteries, used engine oil, fluorescent tubes and tyres. Home Composting Composting is a natural recycling process in which organic wastes are biologically decomposed under aerobic conditions (in the presence of oxygen). Microorganisms such as bacteria, insects, worms and fungi break down the material into a dark crumbly material called compost. Compost is excellent for improving soil nutrient content, structure, condition, moisture retention and is a sustainable alternative to peat or synthetic fertilisers. Organic material can be composted at home using a home composting bin, see picture 2. What to feed and what not to feed your home compost bin Yes Please No Thanks Grass Cutting Meat (cooked or uncooked) Kitchen fruit and veg Textiles Paper Cat and dog faeces Card-shredded Plastic Leaves Oil Small twigs Glass Wood shavings Invasive weeds Bedding from Guinea Pig and Rabbit hutches Ashes Hay and Straw What happens when you recycle in Bedfordshire? Materials collected from the kerbside recycling collection schemes are taken to the Material Recycling Facility (MRF) at Elstow. A MRF has a large conveyor belt, along which recyclables pass and operators pick off the individual material types by hand, see picture 3. Once sorted the material is packed into bales and loaded onto lorries to be taken to the re-processors such as paper mills, glassmakers or plastic reprocessing plants to be recycled. Recycled products Recycled products today can be made to the same standards as products made from raw materials. Many products do not even state their recycled content. New technology is constantly improving and a high standard variety of products can now be produced, see table below. Material Recycled Product Aluminium New cans, aeroplanes and bicycles. Steel New cans (25% already been recycled), boats and car parts. Glass bottles and jars New glass bottles and jars, patio bricks, tiles, road aggregate Paper Recycled toilet roll, kitchen roll, writing paper and packaging PET Plastic Bottles Fleece jackets, hats, sleeping bags and . PVC Plastic bottles Drain pipes and plant pots. HDPE Plastic bottles Watering cans, compost bins and water butts! A recycled products guide is available on the Buy Recycled website at: www.recycledproducts.org.uk. What happens to the green garden waste? Compostable material is collected from the kerbside and HWRCs and taken to on-farm composting facilities, see picture 4. Garden waste collected at the HWRC and being transported to an on-farm composting facility Bedfordshire green waste is composted on-farm with the finished compost being used on arable land to improve soil nutrient content, structure, condition and moisture retention. For more information on recycling please visit: www.bedfordshire.gov.uk or www.recyclenow.com To find out more about recycling in your area, please contact: Alisa Savage Recycling Officer Bedfordshire County Council County Hall Cauldwell Street Bedford MK42 9AP T: 01234 228385 F: 01234 228628 e-mail: alisa.savage@bedscc.gov.uk