Destination recycling

Separating and sorting your waste out into different bins is just the start of an amazing journey.

What happens to your recycling after it’s been collected? Where does it go? What’s it turned into? You will find the answers to all those questions here.

86% of the recycling and rubbish generated by households across Croydon, Kingston, Merton and Sutton is treated or reprocessed in the UK. The remaining 14% is sent abroad.*

All the materials we send abroad are recycled – we only work with reputable companies who go to great lengths to ensure that the materials are handled carefully and in an environmentally sustainable way.

What do you what to know about?

• What happens to my Food waste?
• What happens to my Paper and card?
• What happens to my Plastics, glass, cans and cartons?
• What happens to my Garden waste?

What happens to your recycling after it’s been collected? Where does it go? What’s it turned into?

Food waste

Amount collected each year: 30,000 tonnes (approx.)

Where’s it taken? Some food waste (around 5,000 tonnes) is direct-delivered by the collection vehicles to a local Anaerobic Digestion (AD) facility in Mitcham operated by Bio Collectors. The rest is bulked at Waste Transfer Stations in either Mitcham or Kingston before being transported in HGVs to an Anaerobic Digestion facility in either Surrey (operated by Severn Trent Green Power) or Buckinghamshire (operated by Olleco).

What’s it turned into? Two things actually: Renewable energy which fuels UK homes and businesses and a nutrient-rich liquid bio-fertiliser which is used by UK farmers to help grow the fruit and vegetables that end up back on our plates. The gasses produced during the digestion process (which takes about 75 days) are captured and used to drive a turbine which generates electricity. The electricity is fed into the National Grid. 

Watch the film: 

Note: this video accurately represents what happened to food waste when it was filmed in September 2019. It still provides a valuable insight into the recycling process and has been left here for your enjoyment. Please also refer to the text above for a more up-to-date explanation of what currently happens to your food waste.

Paper and card recycling

Amount collected each year: 30,000 tonnes (approx.)

Where’s it taken? To Waste Transfer Stations in Croydon (Stubbs Mead Depot) or Kingston (Villiers Road) where it is bulked before being transported in HGVs to the DS Smith paper mill in Kemsley, Kent.

What’s it turned into? More paper-based products. The waste paper and card is washed to remove inks, staples and glues, and then mixed with water to create a slurry. By adding different materials to this slurry, a variety of paper-based products can be created. For more information on the paper and card recycling process, watch this video from Recycle Now: paper – how is it recycled?

Watch the film: 

Note: this video accurately represents what happened to paper and card recycling when it was filmed in September 2019. It still provides a valuable insight into the recycling process and has been left here for your enjoyment. Please also refer to the text above for a more up-to-date explanation of what currently happens to your paper and card recycling.

Plastics, glass, cans and cartons (mixed recycling)

Amount collected each year: 53,000 tonnes (approx.)

Where’s it taken? To Waste Transfer Stations in Kingston (Villiers Road), Sutton (Beddington Lane), Merton (Garth Road) or Croydon (Endeavour Way) where it is bulked before being transported in HGVs to one of four recycling sorting facilities or MRFs (‘Materials Recycling Facility’)*:

• 48% goes to a MRF in Rainham, Greater London
• 18% goes to a MRF in Wolverhampton, West Midlands
• 18% goes to a MRF in Southwark, London. This is a specialist facility that can handle paper and card as well as plastics, glass, cans and carton. We collect recycling in this way (‘co-mingled’) from flats above shops and some bocks of purpose-built flats
• 16% goes to a MRF in Crayford, Greater London

The MRFs in Rainham, Wolverhampton and Southwark are all operated by Veolia. The MRF in Crayford is run by N+P.

Once the recycling has been sorted, it is baled (squashed into cubes) and sold on to reprocessors who turn the materials into new products.

• Glass, cans and cartons – the vast majority are sold on to reprocessors in the UK.
• Plastics – there are over 50 different types or ‘Grades’ of plastic.  It is relatively easy to find reprocessors in the UK who want to buy higher quality grades of plastic, such as HDPE; plastic milk bottles, for example, are taken to Veolia’s plastics recycling facility in Dagenham, East London.  It can be difficult to find UK outlets for all types of plastics; there is not enough demand here and we don’t have enough specialist reprocessing facilities to cope with all the plastic waste we produce. Our partner Veolia tries to find UK buyers whenever possible, but sometimes it has to be sold to reprocessors in other parts of Europe, where there is demand for the material. Every end-destination is visited, audited and accredited by Veolia to ensure the materials are actually recycled.

What’s it turned into?

• Glass – crushed into small pieces called ‘cullet’ which is then melted in a furnace at temperatures of 1,500-1,600°C. The melted glass is used to make new glass bottles and jars. Other uses for crushed recycled glass include aggregate for road construction, glass fibre and water filtration. Find out more: How is glass recycled?
• Tins and cans – crushed and placed into a furnace, which melts the metal into ‘ingots’. These are used by manufacturers to make products, such as new cans and car parts. Steel and aluminium are particularly easy to recycle and the recycling markets are well established. Find out more: How are tins and cans recycled?
• Cartons – recycled in the same way as paper and card, but first the plastic lining has to be separated. Find out more: How are cartons recycled?
• Plastics – shredded, washed, melted down and formed into pellets. These pellets are used by manufacturers to make anything from clothing, chairs and toys… to new plastic bottles and recycling bins! Find out more: How is plastic recycled?

Watch the film: 

Note: this video accurately represents what happened to plastics, glass, cans and cartons recycling when it was filmed in September 2019. It still provides a valuable insight into the recycling process and has been left here for your enjoyment. Please also refer to the text above for a more up-to-date explanation of what currently happens to your plastics, glass, cans and cartons recycling.

Garden waste

Amount collected each year: 30,000 tonnes (approx.) – from households that subscribe to the garden waste collection service or taken by residents to their local Household Reuse and Recycling Centre.

Where’s it taken? Garden waste is bulked at Waste Transfer Stations in either Morden or Kingston before being transported in HGVs to a compositing facility at Laverstoke Park Farm in Hampshire

What’s it turned into? Peat-free, high-quality compost.

* Figures based on 2019/20 Waste Data Flow
** Figures based on October – December 2022 data