Visit to Amey Recycling Centre in Waterbeach

Following a visit to the Amey recycling facility in Waterbeach, I have a greater understanding of how refuse is processed within Cambridgeshire and specifically how Fenland fits in to the arrangements.

Refuse from Fenland is collected from a variety of coloured bins but in the main they are as follows:

Green: Material that cannot be recycled and is destined for landfill or an incinerator.
Blue: Material that can be recycled that is separated, sorted, bundled and sold on to be re-purposed or recycled.

Brown (optional): Garden Waste: weeds, hedge trimmings, small twigs and branches (less than 2.5cm or 1″ in diameter), grass cuttings, flowers, plants, fruit and vegetable waste, leaves.
Lesson 1: In this order: Reduce waste, Re-Purpose if possible, Recycle.

Lesson 2: Many households put material that can be recycled in the Green Bin, this reduces space that could be used for the purpose it is provided (the full bin syndrome).

Lesson 3: Some households put material in the Blue bin that cannot be recycled. If contaminated, it could cause a rejection of other valuable material that should have been recycled.

Lesson 4: It is easy and quick to use the right bin.

Lesson 5: It is not the ‘end of the world’ if we make the odd mistake.

A good starting point is to understand what can be recycled, this is regularly communicated by Fenland District Council and is on their web site: https://www.fenland.gov.uk/waste-and- recycling

When you understand this, make sure everyone in the home also knows it also. Then make it easy for everyone to help – like having a bin in the bathroom for material that cannot be recycled and a bag or bin for the material that can be emptied into the Blue bin (tip: it is always dry stuff).

The Process:

Material from Green bins gets loaded on to a conveyor belt. Some material extracted can be recycled e.g. Paper and cardboard, steel cans are magnetically removed.

A separator sorts aluminium material, glass of all colours is extracted and ground down for repurposing, Plastic is sorted by shining a light and measuring how much is absorbed (Near Infra-Red Plastic Recovery System), selected plastics are extracted by compressed air and gathered into specific bins that is bundled up for recycling (All plastic can be recycled).

A small amount of the residual waste will be burned to generate electricity in a Peterborough based plant, but everything else is sold on to UK companies, and selected plastics are sold to a facility that re-purposes the material in Nordic Countries. Put simply; waste either has a value or it is buried in landfill.

Material from the recycling bins (Blue) has a higher proportion of material that can be sold on provided it is clean. Unfortunately, some material does not make the grade and must be removed. Over 55% of waste material from Households is recycled, but there are Towns/Areas in England that recycle over 65% – so we could do better.

Garden Waste is collected from Brown bins, it is shredded and converted into high quality black compost. If you collect from Waterbeach you can pick up a couple of tons free! At the local Household Recycling Centres (HRC) a small charge is made to cover bagging and delivery to the HRC.

HRCs are distributed across the County, the Whittlesey HRC is in New Road, (PE7 1SZ). Here a wide range of materials from households can be recycled. Councillors fought hard to retain this facility when it was threatened with closure. Large heavy items should be deposited at the HRC as should batteries and electrical items. Many residents take garden waste, metal, cardboard, oil, glass and many other materials that are best handled there. This link provides more information: https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/residents/waste-and- recycling/what-can-i-recycle/

Main messages: Everyone can help by putting the right items in the correct bins, avoiding contamination, cutting down on the amount of waste and re-purposing anything that can be re used. The system of recycling in Fenland is very modern and efficient, we all want to recycle more and landfill less – What will you do differently?