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What happens to your Recycling?

Waste recycling contractors and collectors such as your local authority, Panda, AES, Greyhound, Greenstar and Mr. Binman collect recycling materials from the recycling bin at your home, school, office, or from bring banks and from civic amenity centres throughout Ireland. They take all the recyling materials back to their Materials Recovery Facility (MRF).

At the MRF, the recycling materials are sorted and separated into different types of recycling materials; plastic recycling, paper and cardboard recycling, glass recycling, aluminium recycling etc. The sorting of recycling materials is carried out by machine with some manual intervention. Once collected and sorted, recycling materials become valuable commodities in the worldwide market, with the majority exported to Europe. The recycling materials are then sent to primary manufacturers or recyclers who use the recycling materials as raw materials in the manufacture of new products.

Even though exporting our recyclables means a longer recycling loop as recycling materials are transported further, it is still a better environmental option than using new, raw materials because:

It minimises the need to use natural resources, such as oil.
Using recycled materials significantly reduces energy use and carbon emissions during the manufacturing process.
Transport impacts are reduced because the recycling materials are transported in returning container ships, which otherwise would return empty.
Materials are not disposed of unnecessarily in landfills.