What happens my recycling

Clean dry cardboard is baled up into half ton bales

Where does it go?

To Irish Packaging Recycling Limted (I.P.R) in Dublin where it is then re-loaded into containers for shipment to China which is the largest market in the world for recycling.

What happens?

The cardboard is recycled via the pulping process which removes inks and dyes. Water is added to produce a pulp like material which is then placed through large heavy rollers to remove the excess water and press the fibres together to make new cardboard again

Any plastic wrapping is removed before being baled

Where does it go?

I.P.R in Dublin and shipped to either India or China depending on the market value

What happens?

Same process as cardboard. It is then turned into new paper for printing on.

(Any paper that’s not newspaper. Eg office paper, paper bags, envelopes and books)

Where does it go?

I.P.R. in Dublin and shipped to either India or China

What happens?

Same process as the newspaper. Can then be re made into paper and toilet paper.

Where do they go?

We send our bottles to a Specialized Plastic Bottle Recycling company in Castleblayney called Shabra Plastics who sort the bottles between PET & HDPE and then grind them down into a pellet form to make various different plastic products (see below). Shabra make all types of bags such as the McElvaney bags that you buy for your household waste and the bags we use for our Recycle packs for schools are also made locally by Shabra.

What happens?

PET Bottles (mineral and water) are turned back into bottles or used to make fleece for coats etc. HDPE Bottles (milk, detergent and oil) are turned into wheelie bins, garden furniture and fence posts.

Where do they go?

Shergrim in Omagh take these who then send them to Warrington in England for processing.

What happens?

Steel cans are melted in a furnace and when cooled, rolled into large sheets for making new food cans or car panels. Alum cans is the most valuable material as it can be recycled many times over without affecting quality so this makes it cheaper to recycle than producing it from raw materials. They are made into new beer cans, mineral cans etc.

Where do they go?

Leinster Environmental in County Louth.

What happens?

After we separate the plastic between LDPE and HDPE we then bale it. Leinster Environmental then melt it down into a pellet form to make new plastic wrapping.

Where does it go?

Rehab Enterprises in Naas, Co. Kildare, empty our bottle banks and take the glass to their plant in Kildare.

What happens?

It is sorted into each colour-green, brown and clear. The lids are removed and it is then crushed into cullet and goes through a screening system where all other objects like window glass, cups and plates are removed. Then the labels are removed. The glass then goes to Quinn Glass in Derrylin, Co. Fermanagh where it is put into large furnaces with other raw materials for producing new glass bottles. Also the likes of Roadstone buy the crushed glass to help make tar for new roads. You may notice signs on major new roads saying how many thousand recycled bottles were used in the making of the road like the Carrickmacross By-Pass.

Where do they go?

Textile recycling in Dublin.

What happens?

Clothes and footwear are sold to third world markets. The lighter clothing goes to the warmer countries like Africa and India and the heavier clothing goes to Eastern European countries such as Romania. Clothes not suitable for re-use are shredded and are used as wiping cloths.

LDA, LDA cold and SDA's are collected and recycled by EWM from Dublin on behalf of ERP Ireland. SDA's are then shipped to European Metal Recycling (EMR) Ltd in Liverpool for further Recycling. LDA's and LDA Cold are shipped onto European Metal Recycling Ltd, West Midlands, UK. CRT's and household batteries are also collected by EWM on behalf of ERP Ireland and taken to the Recycling Village in Monasterboice for Recycling. The Batteries are shipped onto UNI-CYC, In Germany. The IT equipment is shipped to Interrec BV in Netherland.

LDA "Large Domestic Appliances" which are NOT fridges: After collection at the Recycling Centre, these are separated by type i.e. washers, cookers, etc., and are 'pre-treated'. This process involves removing cables, plastic doors, accessible circuit boards, ballasts, etc., until a 'shell' of mainly steel remains. Aluminium tubs from washers are segregated and the 'shell' is then bailed and sent for metal recycling. The same would happen to any other metal streams such as copper and aluminium. Wires are stripped of plastics in a specialised machine and segregated by metal type, again for recycling. Plastics are put through a shredder in order that they can be broken up into small pieces, usually by type & colour, and these are invariably sent to the Far East for further processing, and usually end up making new plastics (some very old fire-retardant plastics contain chemicals which are too hazardous to recycle, although this is a low percentage). Metals are used in making new carbon steel, aluminium, etc.

COLD - fridges: Fridges are collected and the first stage is degassing. Using a specialised 'hoover' with extensive filtration the gases are removed from the coils, and the compressors removed & oil drained for proper disposal. Compressors can be used in metal recycling, but in many instances are shipped to the Far East for disassembly and sometimes reuse. Walls are removed which contain CFC foam, which is treated and neutralised and ends up looking like sponge toffee. Metals and plastics are treated as described above.

SDA "Small Domestic Appliances": This is the messiest WEEE waste stream as there are so many variables. Component materials differ greatly between speakers, irons, hoovers, etc., and can include wood, cardboard, circuit boards, plastics, metals, glass, etc. These are collected and pre-treated i.e. ink cartridges from printers removed, batteries, cables, etc. The appliances are then segregated usually by size/type and put into a giant blender with a huge chain which shreds them up into small fragments. The fragments travel through a conveyer system and are separated into plastics, metals, etc. At some recycling companies they use magnets, and/or floatation tanks which draws out plastics from metals. Further heat systems are often used to then separate the metals into copper, aluminium, etc. Plastics are sent to the Far East as described above. It is best practice and makes higher returns for the recyclers the 'cleaner' the component materials are when they ship them out.

CRT "Cathode Ray Tube" i.e. TVs and Monitors: contain hazardous waste in the form of phosphorous powder and leaded glass. The first step when they arrive at the recycling company is to remove the cables and outer plastic casings (or wood for very old TVs). These are bailed or shredded, again usually by plastic type and/or colour in order to have as uniform a component material as possible for shipment. The tubes, which look like sealed funnels, are made of two types of glass which are sealed together and connected further by a copper coil. The coil is removed and the tube is put into either a laser or diamond cutting machine, which takes around 30 seconds to cut. The operator 'hoovers' the phosphorous powder through a filtration system into a 55 gallon plastic drum. It takes thousands of TVs' powder to fill the drum, which eventually ends up in Hazardous Waste landfill. The glass is divided into it's two types and then made smaller, usually through a shredder or aggregator until it's relatively uniform. The bail-bags of glass pieces are then shipped out to re-smelters to make into new TV glass, the majority of which is done in Germany to be shipped to the Far East. Cables, etc., are treated as described above.

Where do they go?

Recycling Village, Monastorboice Drogheda Co. Louth.

These are sent for recycling to the Recycling Village.

These are put into a crusher which separates the glass from the aluminium caps and plastics on the tube. The plastics and aluminium are treated as described above. The glass, however, contains hazardous mercury powder which needs to be removed . The mercury from one tube can contaminate upto 30000 litres of water. Bags of bailed shredded glass are sent across the water for treatment in either the UK mainland or Continental Europe. The process involves washing the glass in water over several stages and when it's free from the mercury it's sent into glass recycling for making more lightbulbs. The water is distilled until a purer form of mercury is achieved which is used by the medical and chemical industries.

Where do they go?

Collected and recycled by KMK Metals Tullamore, Co. Offaly on behalf of WEEE Ireland.

Engine + Cooking oil are put in separate drums for collection

Where does it go?

Enva Ireland in Portlaoise collects our waste engine oil.

What happens?

Firstly, any water, which is usually around ten per cent, is removed and taken to a water treatment plant. The oil is filtered to remove any waste before being used to either generate power or make tarmac for the likes of Roadstone.

Fry-lite in Strbane, Co. Tyrone collects our waste cooking oil.

What happens?

Cooking oil also goes through a process of separation and filtration before being used in the manufacture of Bio-Diesel meaning that it can be used as fuel in a diesel powered car or tractor!!!

Where do they go?

Enva Ireland, Clonminam Industrial Estate, Portlaoise Co. Laois.

What happens?

Residual oil is removed then any non metal components are separated from the filter and exported for energy recovery. Finally the metal that is left is shredded and recycled.

Where do they go?

Enva Ireland in Portlaoise

What happens?

The liquid paint is poured into a UN approved container and sealed and sent to Enva where the paint
undergoes a distillation process and is fully recycled and used by the heavy industry for paint/manufacturing processes. The cans are put in another container where Enva then use a process which involves freezing any hardened paint to remove it. The metal cans then go for metal recycling and the plastic ones are shredded and turned into a pellet used for fuel.

Where do they go?

Enva Ireland in Portlaoise

What happens?

Batteries are hazardous materials so they cannot be landfilled. They are carefully transported to Portlaoise where they are then sent to Germany for recycling. The lead is removed and used to make more batteries and the acid is incinerated. The outer plastic case is melted down into tiny pellets to make new plastic.

Where do they go?

Enva Ireland in Portlaoise

What happens?

Aerosols present a risk to the environment such as high flammability and toxicity of their contents. They have to be depressurised to prevent any explosion hazards and then are exported to Germany for disposal.

Where does it go?

Rehab Recycle in Naa's, Co. Kildare.

What happens?

Polystyrene is also known as Styrofoam or aeroboard is used mainly for protective packaging for electrical goods. It is made up of 98% air and 2% plastic. The polystyrene is passed through a heat reduction machine which removes the air and leaves behind a dense plastic product which is made into clothes hangers, CD cases, stationary and the outer shell of computers, printers etc.

Where do they go?

Flo Gas Ireland

What happens?

The gas cylinders are refilled and sold.

Where do they go?

Jack & Jill Children’s Foundation. Website: www.jackandjill.ie

What happens?

Phones fit for reuse are reconditioned and sent to third world countries for sale at market value and the money raised is used to fund the foundation. Unusable ones are disposed of in the proper manner.

Where do they go?

HP Planet Partners in Dublin

What happens?

Refilled and sold as a cheaper alternative to making new ones.

Where does it go?

Taken to Enrich Environmental Kilcock, Co. Meath.

What happens?

Grass and hedge clippings are mixed with shredded timber and heaped into windrows and turned every so often to let the air at it and this is known as aerobic composting. This creates a rich compost for sale to households and garden centres.

What happens?

Timber is separated into two catagories, Waste and Recyclable. Waste timber such as chipboard, kitchen units etc are landfilled and will biodegrade in the landfill. Recyclable timber is shredded on site into a pellet form and sold to farmers for bedding of cattle and walkways across land.

Where does it go?

T-MET in Co. Armagh /Wilton Waste, Ballyjamesduff, Co. Cavan.

What happens?

Again like the process of the steel cans the metal is cut up into pieces and melted in a furnace and then cooled rolled into large sheets to form new products.

Where does it go?

Gypsum Recycling in Co. Kildare

What happens?

All contaminants are separated from the plasterboard and then the gypsum powder is separated from the paper to provide a 98% clean gypsum material for re-use in the construction industry. It is cheaper for the construction industry to recycle plasterboard rather than landfill it so this gives them the incentive to recycle.

Where does it go?

Used to either maintain the roadways in the landfill or to a local quarry for filling. Examples are blocks, bricks, cement, tiles and ceramics.

Where does it go?

Duffy Tyre Recycling Co. Donegal

What happens?

End life tyres are processed into shred, chips and granualate for Rubber mats.

Asbestos is not accepted at any of the recycling centres.