Vale of White Horse District Council
Abbey House, Abbey Close,
Abingdon, OX14 3JE
Email: comments@whitehorsedc.gov.uk
Telephone: 01235 520202

Vale of White Horse District Council

What happens to items put out for recycling

Recycling not only means that less waste is being sent to land fill, the items that you put in your green bin can call be put to good use and reused in the following ways:

Plastic bottles – Bottles are compressed and baled and taken to Cambridge where they are separated by type of plastic. They are then processed into a range of items including construction materials, street signs, soft furnishings and into green recycling boxes! 

Mixed paper – Mixed paper is delivered into a processing plant in Kent where it has contaminants removed and is "de-inked". It is pulped and made into paper rolls, which are delivered to major publishers in the UK and Europe to print more newspapers and magazines. Recycled paper currently makes up over 80 per cent of paper used in printing newspapers. 

Glass bottles and jars - Glass is collected on the Vale’s collection vehicles and delivered to the Council’s depot. When large enough loads have been collected they are delivered to a reprocessing plant in Essex where they are melted down and made into new glass products. Some mixed glass is crushed and used as an aggregate in the construction industry.

Food and drink cans - Mixed cans are crushed and baled and taken to South Wales where they are separated magnetically according to whether they are made of steel or aluminium. They are then melted down and remade into new steel or aluminium containers for food and drink. 

Aluminium foil - Clean aluminium foil is included with the loads of mixed cans sent to South Wales and is reprocessed with the aluminium cans. 

Clothing and textiles - All items, which should be in a good or reasonable condition, are delivered to ‘Planet Aid’, a charity which distributes them as part of their work in developing countries. 

Mobile phones – Any mobile phones placed in a green box are refurbished and exported to developing countries which are usually short of hard currency and have limited access to landline phones. Any phones which are not re-useable are ground up and all metals are recovered. All batteries are retrieved and sent for the recovery of nickel, cadmium and lithium. The proceeds from all phones collected are used to support the development of a children's Accident and Emergency Unit at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.