What happens to your recycling and household rubbish
Household rubbish (grey bin)
We collect this in freighters, and take it to the waste-to-energy plant in Stoke. Rubbish from Newcastle-under-Lyme does not go to landfill.
The material is burned in a process which makes hot gas to turn turbines which make electricity for the National Grid. Dangerous gases created by the burning are removed in the chimneys, so that there is no air pollution. After burning, the ash is used as a construction material.
If you put things which can be recycled into your household rubbish bin, they will be burned, not recycled into new things. The energy and resources which went into their manufacture are gone forever, and more energy and more resources are needed to make new things for us.
Check the small range of things which go into your household rubbish bin
You can order an extra or replacement bin online.