ECOCYCLEWASTE in Widnes, is where Denbighshire County Council sends all its recyclable goods.


The site is set on five acres, is split into three ‘sheds’ and is able to process over 150,000 tonnes of waste every year.


One shed is for tipping, one for sorting and one for storing - where recycled waste is cleaned, packed and ready to be sent out to be processed.


The site deals with a range of products including: ferrous metals, non ferrous metals, HDPE, glass, paper and cardboard, newspapers and pams (leaflets) and pet plastics.


Once the material, whether it’s newspaper, glass or plastic bottles, has gone through this state of the art machinery, it is sent on to companies nationwide ready to be re-used.


The recycling process begins in homes across Denbighshire, where plastic bottles, glass and paper are collected and left out for the council to collect.
Recyclable goods are collected in bin wagons.


“They move up to 23 tonnes at a time whereas one of our large collection vehicles (with compaction) only carries around eight tonnes,” said Alan Roberts, senior waste officer.


“For four years, Denbighshire has used compaction vehicles to collect garden waste for composting and now they are used for recycling simply because they are the most effective tool for the job,” he added.


Once collected, the material is sent to two sites in Denbighshire, one at Bodelwyddan and the other in Ruthin.


Waste from Bodelwyddan collects around eight big wagons per week, and Ruthin collects six wagons per week.


“If we didn't bulk the waste up we would need to send around 40 wagons per week,” said Alan.


The wagon then travels to the Widnes site.


Once it arrives the wagon is weighed, both in and out, so the Environmental Agency are aware of how much is being brought in and out of the site.


The waste is tipped in the first shed, stacked, picked and then put onto a conveyor belt, ready for its new lease of life!


The first material that is separated in this process, is actually done so in the first shed.


To the side of the conveyor stands a large pile of small pieces of glass and other small pieces materials, which are mainly plastics.


As well as small pieces of paper and metals.


Sorting the glass from the other materials is simple to achieve mechanically, and the glass company that does this returns the plastic/paper/metal to Ecocycle so that it can be recycled.


“Small broken glass is not an issue here, so just because a bottle or jar is broken it does not mean we cannot recycle it, or send it on,” said Les Douthwaite, managing director of Ecocyclewaste.


“The smaller it is the better.”
In fact the system is so precise that the machine can extract 4mm pieces of glass out of the recycling they get sent.


The conveyor continues and arrives at a 24 man picket station, here large materials are picked off the conveyor incase they become lodged further down the line.


Material passes under an infra red mechanism, which sorts out the goods dependant on whether they are glass, plastic, aluminium or cardboard.


At this point newspaper and pams, cardboard, plastic bags and mixed paper are separated.


These then drop down into their own contained areas, ready to be picked, checked, wrapped and sent back out.


Any materials that have not already been sorted continue along the 150 metres stretch of conveyor belt at an extremely fast rate.


“We have a modern recycling facility with the latest in technology from the best manufacturers in Europe such as Godswill, M&K Quarry Plant, Stadler, Titech and Magnapower” said Colin Douthwaite, operations director at Ecocyclewaste.


A few seconds later cans are sorted into either aluminium or steel piles. And lastly plastic.


Once all the goods are separated, they are checked and set in bundles, they are then picked up and sent back to factories to be re-used.


Anything that isn't sorted out is checked and put back though the system.


“Hardly anything here goes to landfill, in fact its less than one per cent, “said Les.
“It costs us around £70/£75 to send just one tonne to landfill, so we recycle everything that we can.”

Recycling misconceptions


What if the newspaper I have left out has got wet?
 By the time newspapers arrive at Widnes and go thought the process do dry out. But, if the paper is sodden then it will be rejected by the recycling machine.

Can I put cereal boxes in the newspaper bag?
Yes, this is a misconception, that shiny cardboard cannot be recycled - it can.

What about plastic bags?
Plastic bags are frowned upon by a lot of people, however, they are recyclable, melted down and made into bags again.

What are the costs of recycling?
The costs of putting a recycling collection vehicle on the road are the same whether it collects a full load or a half load but the more we recycle the less the council has to pay in landfill costs. Any householder who puts an item that could be recycled into their grey bin or pink sack is effectively increasing the council tax bill of every home in Denbighshire.

One problem
The only real problem for staff at Ecocyclewaste is food and liquids.
So ensure that there are no traces of this before the packaging leaves your home.