Abbeycroft Leisure has been tackling the Rubbish Diet with vigour and this latest blogpost comes courtesy of Cat Rayson, Abbeycroft Leisure's Communication Officer, who helped organise a staff educational visit to Suffolk's MRF. Over to Cat...
A few weeks ago, some Abbeycroft Leisure staff members visited the Viridor Masons Materials Recycling Facility (MRF), at Great Blakenham. We were all very excited about the educational visit as at heart we’re all recycling geeks and the thought of getting a look at what happens to our blue bin items when they leave our homes was really cool!
We were greeted by Carole Locke and shown into the Education Suite where Carole gave us an introductory presentation which included information on how the unique partnership between Viridor Ltd and the Suffolk Recycling Consortium was formed. The Consortium is made up of six District and Borough councils across Suffolk – Babergh, Forest Heath, Ipswich, Mid Suffolk, St Edmundsbury and Suffolk Coastal. Masons Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) receives the recyclate from the Consortium members.
During the tour itself, we saw first-hand the many different processes that take place to sort our recyclate into separate material types. These include large revolving drums called trommels, ballistic separators, a series of conveyor belts, magnets, hi-tech cameras (optical sorters) and approximately 25 line sorters. Sorting operatives are employed by Viridor to hand-pick contaminated and non-recyclable items from the belts – a way of ensuring quality control standards are met.
(A lorry arriving with blue bin material)
(Recycling material moving up a conveyer belt)
We found out how steel and aluminium are separated by magnets. Steel, being magnetic, is extracted by a runner of heavy duty magnets which attract the material and carry it off into a separate receptacle. Aluminium is repelled by two opposing magnets and ends up in its own area.
(The magnets at work)
After the tour we had the opportunity to ask questions. We discovered why shredded paper, plastic carrier bags and film are not accepted at Masons; these materials can clog the machinery at the MRF and bring the entire plant to a grinding halt!
Materials welcomed at the MRF are loose paper and card, cans and tins, aluminium foil and foil containers, plastic bottles (with the lids removed – but these can still be recycled) and hard plastic containers such as yogurt pots, ice cream tubs etc. All materials should be clean and dry – and put into the recycling bins loose.
Currently there is also a trial textile scheme. All textiles sent to Masons MUST be put into the special bags issued for this purpose, then the bags need to be placed inside the recycling bin on top of the other materials.
We learned that while most of us are still putting scrunchy plastic into our blue bins (bread packets, food wrap) it currently is unable to be recycled by Viridor. Armed with our new knowledge, we all collected free recycling sort bags from our local council household recycling centres and are storing up our scrunchy plastic for recycling there instead.
Did you know that one recycled plastic bottle can light a 60watt bulb for 6 hours!? That’s amazing! With all the knowledge we gained on our visit, we’ll be recycling enough to power our own homes!
Viridor welcomes pre-booked visits from adult groups, organisations, and schools. We would encourage anyone who wants to learn more about recycling in Suffolk to contact Carole Locke by phone 01473 836903, mobile 07778160389, email clocke@viridor.co.uk or visit the website www.suffolkrecyclingconsortium.org.uk to arrange a visit.
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