Ever wonder what happens to items you put in your black box and green bin?
Residents in Torfaen sort out materials into their black boxes and bins every day. After boxes are collected every week, items are sorted at the Torfaen Cleanstream Recycling depot in Cwmbran and then taken elsewhere.
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Currently, paper from Torfaen, including magazines, newspapers and junk mail, is recycled into newsprint at Aylesford Newsprint in Kent.
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Glass such as wine bottles and beer bottles is sent to Nationwide in Swansea where it is made into building materials.
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Metal like food tins and drink cans is either sent to Novellis in Warrington for re-processing back into aluminium cans or sent to Sims Metal in Newport where it is reprocessed and reused as steel.
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Plastic bottles collected are sent to Eurokey in Leicester. This type of recycling is still being developed in the UK.
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Finally, clothes and shoes are sent to developing countries where they are re-used and worn.
Garden and kitchen waste from your green wheelie bin is taken to Bryn Compost in Caerphilly and turned into compost.
Torfaen County Borough Council's waste manager, Cynon Edwards, said: "It's fascinating to learn the different ways recycling materials are used. Residents in the county borough are helping make an enormous difference and we are urging people to do everything they can to boost recycling levels further."
Torfaen Cleanstream Recycling, which works in partnership with Torfaen County Borough Council, says it is now recycling record levels. Rates have increased by 100 tonnes to over 500 tonnes a month in less than a year.
Thanks to resident's enthusiasm for the black box scheme, the recycling and composting rate in Torfaen currently stands at 37 per cent- just three per cent short of the Welsh Assembly's 2009-10 target. And the Council is currently in the top 25 per cent of Welsh authorities for its recycling performance.
But despite the improvement more can be done to boost rates. Residents can play their part by ensuring that they do not mix materials they put in bags. Other measures homeowners can take include putting their boxes out by the kerbside before 8am on their collection day.
Some 24,000 homes are now included in the twin bin scheme which sees kitchen and garden waste collected one week and household rubbish collected on the other.
Recycling is collected every week.
The scheme will cover the majority of homes in the county by 2009.
What people can do:
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Do not mix recycling materials left in bags i.e. keep newspapers and magazines separate from glass jars.
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Put your black box out before 8am.
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Put your black box out by the kerbside.
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Try to squash materials like plastic bottles to help increase capacity on the lorries.
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Make sure you know which items go in the black box and use it as much as possible.