Every year Sheffield residents produce close to 200,000 tonnes of waste, this amount of rubbish would fill Ponds Forge international swimming pool 161 times! And, we collect and treat all of this waste and recycling - emptying around 13 million bins every year.
Why is recycling important?
Recycling reduces the need for extracting (mining, quarrying, and logging), refining, and processing raw materials all of which create substantial air and water pollution. As recycling saves energy, it also reduces greenhouse gas emissions, which helps to tackle climate change. Current UK recycling is estimated to save more than 18 million tonnes of CO2 a year – the equivalent of taking 5 million cars off the road.
Do you find recycling confusing?
It doesn’t have to be! All households in Sheffield have blue and brown bins for recycling and a black bin for general waste. Other types of recycling including textiles, and plastic items such as tubs, pots, and food trays can be taken to a Household Waste and Recycling Centre to be recycled.
One item in the wrong bin can’t hurt, can it?
Just one item can make it very difficult to recycle a whole lorry load of recycling which is a real problem. Knowing what to put in your recycling bin at home is important. Before you throw anything away at home, we’d like you to think about your waste, sort your materials into the right bins and then recycle them so that they can be turned into new items.
Use our guide to help you place the right items into the right bin:
Have you ever wondered about what happens to your waste after it has been collected from your home?
Waste that you put into your black bin is taken to Veolia’s Energy Recovery Facility in Sheffield, where it is turned into heat for Sheffield’s District Energy Network and electricity for the National Grid.
Once your blue bin has been emptied, the contents is taken to Veolia’s Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in Beighton and then taken to newsprint or board mills in the UK where it is made into new paper and card products.
Once your brown bin is emptied the contents are taken to be separated from each other at a Material Recycling Facility in Alfreton. After this:
- Plastic bottles are taken and then separated into different grades of plastic. PET is recycled in the UK.
- Aluminium cans are recycled and used to make new products in the UK and Europe and steel tins are recycled in the UK and European steel mills.
- Glass is melted and used to make new bottles and jars in the UK and Europe.
Residents across the city can sign up and pay for a seasonal Garden Waste Recycling Service. These green bins are for collecting garden waste. This waste is taken to a local facility where it is composted