Blue bin lorries collect mixed recycling. When the bin lorries are full, the mixed recycling is collected from a transfer station in Waterbeach and taken to a sorting plant, called a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) at Re-GEN Waste, in Newry, Northern Ireland.
Once at the MRF, a variety of magnets, eddy currents (reverse magnets), size-sorting equipment and conveyor belts separate the different materials. The materials are then baled and sold to processors who melt, pulp or crush them to make new products.
Our contract specifies that UK markets should be given preference where possible. Between April 2023 and March 2024, 82% of the recyclable material that the Greater Cambridge Shared Waste service collected was sent to UK re-processors for recycling. For plastics, this figure was 100% with no plastic leaving the UK.
The remaining material (18%) is large cardboard and some mixed paper which was exported. This is fully tracked in accordance with strict guidance from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA). This is recorded on the national Waste Data Flow website. Materials are only sent to sites which have a permit to recycle them legally.