Recycle

What is Recycling?
Recycling takes things that are old or unwanted and makes them into something new. Some things can be made back into the same item and others into something totally different. For example, glass bottles can be recycled and made into new bottles, whereas plastic drink cups can now be made into pencils and plastic bottles into fleece jackets.

Why Recycle?
Calderdale households produce a staggering 90,000 tonnes of household rubbish every year. This is the equivalent of 18 million bags full of rubbish! The problem is getting worse as we buy more packaged and disposable goods The volume of rubbish we produce is set to increase by 4% every year.

Most of Calderdale’s rubbish is buried in landfill sites. Landfill sites have negative effects on our environment and space is fast running out to bury Calderdale’s rubbish.

At the moment 20% of Calderdale’s rubbish is recycled. This needs to increase to 25% over the coming year  to meet government targets. The only way these targets will be reached is if everyone takes part in reducing the amount of waste they produce and by recycling, reusing and composting.

The Recycle for Calderdale campaign is committed to working in partnership with all local authorities, businesses and individuals in Calderdale to help achieve these targets. 

Click on a link below for information about recycling different materials:

Glass

Metal Cans

Paper and Card

Textiles and Shoes

Plastics

Batteries

Mobile Phones

Toner Cartridges

Kitchen and Green Waste

Glass
Glass is 100% recyclable. Even though it’s one of the most commonly recycled items we still throw away huge numbers of glass bottles and jars, which will never decompose. This wastes valuable resources such as raw materials and energy. On average, every family in the UK uses around 330 glass bottles and jars each year. However, only 30% of these are recycled.

Where can you recycle glass?
Almost 90% of Calderdale households have access to a kerbside collection scheme. Use the postcode search facility to see more information about the glass collected through your kerbside service.

You can also recycle glass at one of the many bottle banks (bring sites) located across the district. The bottle banks are divided into those accepting clear, green and brown glass.

How can you help?

•  Most people think of only wine and beer bottles when recycling glass, but most glass containers can be recycled, such as jam and sauce jars, olive oil bottles and coffee jars.
• Separate your bottles and jars into the different colours at the recycling bank sites. If the colours are mixed the glass reprocessors will not accept them and it wastes everyone’s efforts. Blue bottles should be recycled in the green glass containers
• Remove all metal and plastic lids
• Give sticky bottles and jars a rinse out. This helps to ensure pure recycled glass at the end of the process
• You do not need to remove labels from bottles and jars 

Things to Avoid
Crockery and Pyrex cannot be recycled, as they are heat-treated and melt at a different temperature to glass bottles and jars.

What happens to recycled glass?
Special collection vehicles empty bottle banks in Calderdale and the glass is taken to the glass recyclers where the glass is crushed and screened to make 'cullet'. This is used as a substitute for the raw materials used to make new glass. See what happens to your recycled materials for more information. 
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Metal Cans
Food, drink and pet food cans make up 5% of every household bin in Calderdale. These cans are either made out of Aluminium or Steel, both of which can be recycled.

Aluminium can be recycled again and again without any loss in quality. It takes only 5% of the energy to produce an aluminium can from recycled material than from raw material.

Up to 95% of the energy needed to produce new aluminium ore is saved by recycling, recycling steel saves 75% of the energy needed to make steel from virgin materials. Recycling metals reduces waste going to landfill and incineration. If cans are not recycled, they will be buried in landfills where they gradually corrode causing heavy metals to leach into the ground.

Where can you recycle cans?
Steel and aluminium cans are accepted in all can-recycling banks in Calderdale (even if signage says they accept only steel or aluminium). There is a network of recycling banks throughout Calderdale so make sure you use them!

Aluminium cans are also accepted at Halifax Metals as part of the Alcan Recycling Scheme. For more information please contact–

Halifax Metals
Dean Clough
Halifax
tel: 01422 330258

How can you help?
Where possible, please wash and crush cans before putting them into recycling banks or out for the kerbside collection. It takes up less space which means more cans can be collected. You DO NOT need to remove the labels from cans.

What happens to recycled cans?
Steel and aluminium cans collected in Calderdale are taken to a sorting facility. Here the cans are separated using electro-magnets. Steel cans are then taken to have the thin inner layer of tin removed, which is itself recycled, and the steel is used in the production of new products. All new steel contains up to 25% recycled steel.

Aluminium cans are eventually taken to Warrington, which has Europe's only dedicated aluminium can recycling plant, where they are melted down, made into huge ingots and rolled out to make new cans. See what happens to your recycled materials for more information. 
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Paper and Card
Paper and card make up one third of our rubbish by weight, with newspapers and magazines being the most abundant type of paper in household waste.

Paper is made from plant fibres that can be re-used, so why throw it away? By recycling it you are using fewer trees and less water and energy as well as sending less material to landfill. Every person in the UK throws away the equivalent of two trees worth of paper each year - that's almost half a million trees for Calderdale alone.

Where can you recycle paper?
Almost 90% of Calderdale households have access to a kerbside collection scheme. Use the post code search facility on this site to find out what you can recycle at your kerbside.

Most people are familiar with recycling newspapers and magazines, but there are many more paper materials that you can recycle with the kerbside collection scheme. For example,

• Junk mail – menus, flyers and leaflets
• Letters and envelopes
• White and coloured paper
• Wrapping paper 

Paper and card can also be recycled at a variety of locations across Calderdale. Paper and card recycling facilities are available at the Household Waste Recycling Centres and at smaller bring sites located across the district.

How can you help?
When recycling, be careful not to add paper that has any plastic coatings or add-ons (e.g. window envelopes). They can contaminate the final product.

Things to avoid
It is important to check that the correct paper type is put into paper banks - some facilities are strictly for newspapers and magazines and cannot accept cardboard, junk mail or office paper. Also beware of paper-type products such as drinks cartons which, due to their metallic lining cannot be included in paper recycling banks and will contaminate the load if included

What happens to recycled paper?
Paper collected from the kerbside collection scheme and paper banks is sorted by hand into different grades. Paper not suitable for recycling is removed. The waste paper merchant will then bale the waste paper ready to be taken to the paper mill for reprocessing into new paper or paper products. See what happens to your recycled materials for more information.
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Textiles and Shoes
Over 7.5 billion articles of clothing end up in our dustbins every year. People have been donating clothes to charity shops for years, but almost anything made of fabric can also be recycled. For example,

• Towels, sheets, bedding and blankets
• Soft furnishings, like cushion covers
• All types of clothes and shoes, even unwearable and frayed ones 

Where can you recycle textiles?
Clothes can be recycled in 'textile recycling banks', which are located throughout Calderdale. Alternatively, you can take items to charity shops such as The Salvation Army, Oxfam, Cancer Research, Age Concern, British Heart Foundation and Scope.

How can you help?
Make sure all items you want to recycle are clean and dry. Tie laced shoes together to stop them getting separated.

If you are using the textile banks remember to bag the items (using an old carrier). This helps to protect the items.

What happens to recycled textiles?
Most recycling banks are operated by charities, such as Oxfam. Once the banks have been emptied, the textiles are hand sorted and graded according to their condition. Clothing and shoes that can be reused are distributed through the network of charity shops or sent overseas to those in need. Textiles and clothes that cannot be worn or used again can be sold for other uses such as padding and stuffing in loudspeaker cones and furniture. Some are made into wiping cloths for industrial use and some woollen yarns and fibres can be reprocessed and made into fibre for new garments. See what happens to your recycled materials for more information.
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Plastics
Around 3.5 million tonnes of plastics are used in the UK each year, making up around 10% of our household rubbish by weight. Most plastics are made from oil and are non-biodegradable, causing problems with disposal.

Plastic is problematic to recycle as there are so many different types (indicated by a number or letters on the product label), each requiring a different form of reprocessing. In addition, much household plastic waste is food packaging, which is too contaminated to be recycled effectively.

Plastics are a light but bulky part of our rubbish; this makes it difficult to store sufficient quantities to make recycling economically viable.

Where can you recycle plastics?
Plastic bottles can be recycled at the Household Waste and Recycling Centres in Calderdale.

How can you help?
Plastic bottles and containers should be rinsed and squashed with all caps removed before being put into collection banks (do not put in the bottle tops).

What happens to recycled plastics?
Once the plastic has been collected it is often squashed and baled before being transported to a reprocessor for recycling. Once at the reprocessors, the plastic is sorted into the different types and colours. The plastic recycling process can be complicated and there are a number of ways to reprocess plastic. In general it will go through various stages of heating, shaping and cooling. Heating softens or melts the plastic, where it can then be re-shaped and cooled to retain its new form. It may also be shredded or melted down to produce granules which will be used to make other products.

Plastics can be made into a variety of new products including compost bins, furniture, toner cartridges, fleece jackets, sleeping-bag filling… and much more!

See what happens to your recycled materials for more information. 
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Batteries
The average household uses 21 batteries every year. The UK generates 20,000 – 30,000 tonnes of waste general-purpose batteries annually, but less than 1,000 tonnes is recycled.

While the exact chemical make-up varies from type to type, most batteries contain heavy metals, which are the main cause for environmental concern. When disposed of incorrectly, these heavy metals may leak into the ground when the battery casing corrodes. This can contribute to soil and water pollution and endanger wildlife. Cadmium, for example, can be toxic to aquatic invertebrates and can bio-accumulate in fish, which makes them unfit for human consumption.

Where can you recycle batteries?
You can recycle domestic batteries at any of the Household Waste and Recycling Centres in Calderdale.

What happens to recycled batteries?
Batteries contain a range of metals, which can be reused as a secondary raw material. There are a number of different recycling processes for batteries, which are aimed at recovering a variety of materials. See what happens to your recycled materials for more information. 
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Mobile Phones
Many people update their mobile phones regularly as new models and functions become available, this means that there are millions of old mobile phones out there waiting to be recycled.

Cellular Reclamation Ltd report that approximately 50% of the mobile phones that they collect are refurbished then resold, mostly to developing countries where telecommunications are often very limited. The remaining mobile phones, which are either obsolete or broken, are recycled and about 73% of the metal from them is recovered for other uses.

Where can you recycle mobile phones?
All major mobile phone retailers now offer a service to reuse or recycle old mobile phones. Please speak to your specific operator to find out more.

You can recycle your old mobile phones at Tesco supermarkets in Calderdale. Please contact your local store for more details.

You can send your phone to Oxfam. On average, each working handset donated is worth £5 to Oxfam - but some are worth much more. Donating a Nokia 3310 for example, could enable Oxfam to provide a mosquito net to protect a child from malaria. You can take your mobile phone to any Oxfam shop.

How can you help?
If possible, include the batteries and charger. Remove the SIM card before donating the mobile phone.

What happens to recycled mobile phones?
All of the metal from the unwanted batteries is recycled. The recycling process ensures that the cadmium (a highly toxic metal) is extracted safely from the batteries. See what happens to your recycled materials for more information. 
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Toner Cartridges
In 1999 over 7 million toner printer cartridges were consumed in the UK. Three-quarters of these were thrown away, accounting for as much as 15,000 tonnes of waste plastic and metal. Recycling cartridges not only reduces waste, but also reduces the need for raw materials; each laser cartridge that is recycled conserves the equivalent of approximately one litre of oil.

Toner cartridges cannot be refilled, but most types of toner cartridge can be remanufactured. The cartridges are sent to a factory where they are completely dismantled and cleaned, any worn parts are replaced, and the drum either re-coated or replaced. They are then refilled with fresh toner, tested and sold with a guarantee. One in four cartridges sold in the UK are remanufactured.

In 1999 20 million printer ink-jet cartridges were thrown away. Ink jet cartridges are technologically much simpler items. Refilling ink jet cartridges is more straightforward and can be done on a DIY basis, with a number of companies supplying the ink and refilling equipment, although it is also possible to send them away for refilling.

The success of recycling and waste reduction initiatives depends on everyone taking action in the office and the home. You can send your old cartridges to -

ActionAid Recycling - Charity Organisation involved in raising vital funding for ActionAid development work in the third world, through the collection and recycling of empty I.T. consumables (inkjet and toner cartridges) and mobile phones.

Telephone 0117 304 2390
Website: www.actionaidrecycling.org.uk

Cartridgeworld - Refills ink cartridges.
246 King Cross Road, Halifax (01422 300 208)
Website: www.cartridgeworld.co.uk 

See what happens to your recycled materials for more information.
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Kitchen and Green Waste
Composting is nature’s own way of recycling. Insects, bugs and other soil organisms break down organic material, such as plant waste from your garden or vegetable food waste from your kitchen, to produce rich fertiliser that's great for plants.

How can I recycle kitchen and green garden waste?
To compost your kitchen and garden waste at home build your own compost heap or purchase a compost bin. Calderdale Council operates a subsidised home composter purchase scheme in partnership with Straight Recycling. Please ring 0845 130 6090 for details.

There are many different types of compost bin on the market but essentially they are units with no bottom that must sit on bare earth. You then fill it from the top with your kitchen and garden waste and empty it from the bottom.

Things you can compost

• Fruit and vegetable scraps
• Tea bags and coffee grounds
• Old flowers and bedding plants
• Hedge clippings and weeds
• Gerbil, hamster and rabbit bedding
• Egg boxes and egg shells
• Grass cuttings
• Cardboard and newspaper in small quantities
• Leaves in small quantities 

If this waste goes to landfill, it becomes a source of methane – a greenhouse gas linked to global warming, which is another good reason to recycle more.

Things you shouldn’t compost:

• Cooked food waste
• Meat
• Fish
• Cat litter and dog faeces
• Glossy magazines 

Green garden waste services
You can also usually take your green garden waste to your local Household Waste and Recycling Centre. 

See what happens to your recycled materials for more information.
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