Bin collections
Where does your recycling go?
All the borough's recycling is taken to Pearce Recycling in St Albans. It goes through their Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) for sorting, where recyclables are separated by type and bulked ready for reprocessing.
The materials are then sold on by Pearce. They go to different places depending on the type and quality of material as well as the market conditions at the time.
Pearce make every effort to keep the materials within the UK, but sometimes there are no viable options to have the materials reprocessed here.
What is recycled in the UK
- separately collected newspapers and magazines
- steel and aluminium cans
- textiles
- organic materials such as garden waste and food waste
What is not recycled in the UK
Someitmes the demand for a material just does not exist in the UK. Or, the markets do not have sufficient capacity to be able to absorb it. In these cases our partners trade the recyclables outside the UK. They do this in order to achieve the best income and lowest costs.
Any recyclables that are processed outside the UK comply with current government regulations.
For more information about what happens to yout recycling once it is collected visit the Hertfordshire County Council website.