What happens to your recycling

Page updated on: 22/01/2024

In Carmarthenshire all the waste is taken to a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) at Nantycaws to be sorted. Blue bag items are then sent to various processing plants across the country to be made into new products. So, your drink can could become part of a new aeroplane, or a new can within just 6 weeks!

The food we collect in your food bin is used to generate electricity and to make fertiliser. Just 6 recycled tea bags could produce enough electricity to boil a kettle for another cuppa.

We also collect garden waste, which is turned into compost or soil conditioner and is available to buy at the recycling centres.

In Carmarthenshire we currently recycle around 64% of our waste. Anything we cannot recycle, is made into fuel where possible. In 2019 we only sent 10% of our total waste to landfill, but we need to do more to reduce our waste and recycle everything we can.

The Welsh Government has set a statutory target of 70% recycling by 2025 and for Wales to be a zero waste (100% recycling) nation by 2050. If we fail to meet the targets, we could face large financial penalties, which will affect all of us as residents in the County. Wales is currently ranked third in the world for recycling, help us get to first place.