Have you ever wondered what happens to the content of your Green Bin once it is collected?

Mixed Dry Recyclables is the common term applied to the contents of your green bin. Once the waste has been collected by Greyhound, it is transported to the new Materials Recovery Facility located in Ballymount, Dublin 12. This facility has been built by the Dublin Local Authorities and is managed by Greyhound.

Separating the Waste

At the facility, a series of conveyor belts carry the waste through a set of separation steps. Once sorted, the waste is baled and taken to the international market.

Paper/Cardboard Journey

1. The recycling process begins by creating a fibrous pulp from the paper. This is done by shredding the paper and combining it with large amounts of water. The mixture is then stirred until all the paper has broken down into individual fibres.
2. The next stage is the cleaning process. All foreign objects are removed by using special filters and cleaning techniques. These objects may include paper clips, staples, string and dirt. The paper is then de-inked.
3. The paper is passed through a drying machine, on a series of rollers that flatten the pulp to remove any remaining moisture and mesh the pulp fibres together to produce paper.
4. The dried product is then rolled onto large reels before it is sent to other factories to produce the end product.

Plastic Journey

1. Once the baled plastic has arrived at its destination it is washed and chopped into flakes.
2. If mixed plastics are being recycled, they are sorted in a flotation tank, where some types of plastic sink and others float.
3. The plastic flakes are dried in a tumble dryer.
4. The dried flakes are fed into an extruder, where heat and pressure melt the plastic. Different types of plastics melt at different temperatures.
5. The molten plastic is forced through a fine screen to remove any contaminants that slipped through the washing process. The molten plastic is then formed into strands.
6. The strands are cooled in water, then chopped into uniform pellets. Manufacturing companies buy the plastic pellets from recyclers to make new products. Recycled plastics also can be made into flowerpots, lumber, and carpeting.

Aluminum Can Journey

1. Aluminum cans are condensed into highly dense, 30-pound briquettes or 1,200-pound bales and sent to aluminum companies for melting.
2. The condensed cans are shredded, crushed and stripped of their inside and outside decorations via a burning process. Then aluminum pieces are loaded into melting furnaces, where the recycled metal is blended with new, virgin aluminum.
3. The molten aluminum is then poured into 25-foot long ingots that weigh over 30,000 pounds. The ingots are fed into rolling mills that reduce the thickness of the metal.
4. This metal is then coiled and sent to can makers, who produce can bodies and lids. They, in turn, deliver cans to beverage companies for filling.
5. The new cans are then ready to return to store shelves in as little as 60 days, only to go through the entire recycling process again!