Ever wondered how the recyclables that you put out in your collection cart each week get processed and made into new products?

Once the trucks drive off they head to a Materials Recycling Facility or MRF (pronounced “Murph”). In King County, your recyclables are more than likely ending up at the Cascade Recycling Center in Woodinville where the trucks empty the recyclables out onto the tipping floor and the processing begins.

The first step is to have sorting staff remove the obviously non-recyclable items. This is a time-consuming and costly process, which is one of the reasons why it’s so important to put only the right items in your cart. Next there are a series of discs that remove cardboard, newspaper, and mixed paper. Some of this is then sorted manually again. From there, glass is sorted out and cleaned with a vacuum, a magnet removes the steel cans, and the remaining paper gets pulled out, leaving plastic containers. The containers run through a laser scanner that can identify many plastics and sort them by type. The remaining containers are then sorted manually and the aluminum cans are pulled out with a special magnet. Check out this Waste Management video explaining the whole process.

Once the materials are sorted they get sold to markets that can use turn them back into useful products. Some materials are turned back into similar products to what they started as:

• Aluminum is usually shipped off to make new aluminum cans
• Paper gets remade into magazines, cereal boxes, paper towels, and toilet paper
• Glass from the Cascade Recycling Center is processed locally, going to Strategic Materials in Seattle and being made into new glass bottles at a plant next door

Other materials get used to make an entirely new product:

• Plastics are usually turned into more durable goods, like plastic decking, carpet or fleece jackets
• Other materials are used for a variety of uses -- ranging from furniture to bike parts to bridges

Don’t Throw Out Good Food!

Dates can be confusing -- Let us help

Best by/Use by - This is a manufacturer-set date for peak quality, not a “safety” date. Use the smell and sip test to see if it’s still good.

Sell by - This is a “display” date for stores, not an “eat-by” date. It should be fine to eat for some time after. Use the smell and sip test to see if it’s still good.

Follow us on Facebook