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The blue bins collected within the Babergh District are taken to the Materials Recycling Facility in Great Blakenham. The majority of the other Suffolk councils also use this facility.
By clicking on the following link you can see what happens to the materials in your Blue bin, in a ShockWave Recycling Presentation. (Note that this is a very large file, and that you will need Macromedia ShockWave Player installed on your PC.)
The photographs and descriptions below explain how the co-mingled material from your blue bin is sorted into the separate materials so that it can be reused.
Stage 1 Pre-Sort
Materials are tipped form the lorry. They are loaded into a bag breaker to break up recyclables contained in plastic bags and then onto a conveyor belt. The materials are then pre-sorted manually. Any black bags are removed and large pieces of cardboard are separated.
Stage 2 Trommel
The conveyor takes the material into a large rotating drum (a trommel). Here the materials are sorted by weight.
The light materials - primarily paper are transported via one conveyor belt whilst the heavier items are on a different belt where they pass through a ballistic separator and a fibre sort.
Stage 3 Manual Sort
Teams of Sorting Operatives remove the non-recyclable items from the belts such as carrier bags, nappies, food waste and film. These non-recyclable items are then sent to landfill. The sorting operatives also ensure that the conveyor belt for paper is of a high quality, and ready for baling.
Stage 4 Overband Magnet
Materials pass under a large rotating magnet that attracts the steel items. The steel items are transported along a separate belt for baling.
Stage 5 Eddy Current
The remaining aluminium and mixed plastic is then separated by an eddy current. The aluminium cans are baled
Stage 6 Plastic Separation
The last materials left to be sorted are the plastics. Plastics are produced in large number of formats. They are generally marked somewhere with a symbol to show what type they are. The most common types of plastic that can be recycled are PET, HDPE & PVC. The MRF uses a hi-tech camera recognition system to separate the different types of plastic.
A detailed of the MRF Process Flow Chart can be viewed by clicking the link below:
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