How are products recycled ?
Oxigen retrieve as many recyclables as possible from the material we receive. When a skip or bin full of Construction & Demolition waste arrives at our plant, all recyclable material (Metals, Aluminium, PVC, etc) is captured from the waste stream by our state of the art equipment. The remaining material is put through a secondary shredding machine which results in Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF). This is sent to factories that use it to burn as energy. SRF avoids the need for non recyclables to be sent to a landfill, greatly reducing landfill methane emissions and the need for landfill space.
Oxigen separate and bale the recyclables at our state of the art recycling facility in Ballymount. These are then shipped on for the next stage in the recycling process. See below for information on how waste is recycled.
Batteries
Batteries are collected and sent to a recycling facility. Here the batteries are separated in preparation for processing.
The Plastic – The Case and cover is crushed which results in plastic pellets.These plastic pellets are crushed to make new battery covers and cases.
The Lead -The Lead parts are used to manufacture new battery parts, such as the grids and lead oxide.
The Electrolyte – The dilute sulfuric acid can be recycled in many ways. Firstly it can be recycled and sold for use in textiles, glass and detergent manufacturing. It can also be used to in the manufacturing of new batteries.
Glass
Glass can be used in the process to make new bottles which helps avoid the need for raw materials to be quarried. It can be recycled over and over again, producing the same quality all the time. If glass is send to a landfill, it will never decompose like other materials. Therefore it is important that we recycle glass at all times.
- Used glass is taken to a glass treatment plant
- The glass is sorted by colour and washed to remove any impurities
- The glass is then crushed and melted, then moulded into new products such as bottles and jars. Or it may be used for alternative purposes such as brick manufacture or decorative uses
- The glass is then sent back to the shops ready to be used again
Garden Material
Your garden waste is composted and used in the horticultural industry.
This material is screened and all containments and non-biogradable materials are removed. Then the waste is shredded to promote a more rapid composting process and the finished product is used to produce organic fertiliser.
Electronic and Electrical Equipment
WEEE is a very important resource. Materials such as copper, aluminium, plastic and other components can often be extracted and reused.
WEEE is segregated and separated in preparation for processing, depending on the type.
For large household white goods, such as fridges and cookers, recycling infrastructure is strong.
However, for smaller more complicated equipment, the development of new infrastructure and technology has become necessary. There are 4 ways in which WEEE can be recycled.
Dismantling of Equipment – the manual separation of reusable and recyclable components which can then be used in the processing of new materials
Mechanical recycling – In order to remove the raw materials which are recyclable, such as plastic and ferrous metal, the hazardous components must be removed. The remaining material is then granulated and shredded.
Incineration and refining – Once the more combustible material has been incinerated, metal can be recovered
Chemical recycling – precious metals such as gold and silver can be removed from printed circuit boards and components via chemical processes.
Mobile Phones & Ink Cartidges
Mobiles and Ink Cartridges can be dismantled for components or broken down for raw material recovery, such as plastics and precious metals.
We donate these items to the Jack and Jill foundation, where working items are refurbished and exported to developing countries. Broken items are recycled using the correct environmental methods.
The funds that the Jack & Jill foundation receive from these materials is used to provide respite care to families with children with developmental needs. We also donate phones to local schools so as they can raise money for equipment.
Paper/ Cardboard
It is important that you keep your paper free from contaminants, such as food, plastic, metal, and other trash, as these materials can make paper difficult to recycle. Contaminated paper which cannot be recycled must be composted, burned for energy, or landfilled.
Once the paper & cardboard is collected, it goes through the following process:
- The paper is sorted & graded
- It is then added to water, which makes it turn into pulp.
- The paper is then screened, cleaned and de-inked through a number of processes until it is suitable for papermaking.
- It is then ready to be made into new paper products such as newsprint, cardboard, packaging, tissue and office items
Timber
Timber can be salvaged from many places such as demolished houses, sheds, factories, old buildings and warehouses.
- The Timber is Shredded into woodchip.
- Any Steel contaminants are removed (nuts, bolts and nails).
- The woodchip is then loaded into the high speed shredder
- The Timber is shredded into high quality woodchips for use in a number of identified end markets such as
- Particleboard
- Animal Bedding
- Timber Flooring
- Beams
- Decking
- Mulch & Composting
- Bio Fuel Energy
Plastics
Plastic is not always recycled into the same type of plastic. For example, this could mean melting down soft drink bottles and then casting them as plastic chairs and tables. Plastics are separated in to different groups depending on their substance, for example, a clear plastic bottle, a milk bottle and a plastic bin bag would all be separate groups. These cannot be melted down together as they would not blend.
The plastic recyclables are then shredded. These shredded fragments then undergo processes such as washing, in order to eliminate impurities like paper labels, glue or grease. This material is melted and often extruded into the form of pellets.
The pellets are then sold on the market to manufacturers who use them for a growing number of applications. They can be:
- Made into fibers and carpets
- Formed into floor tiles, outdoor lumber, and laundry bottles
- Go into mats and flooring while
Customers can buy the pellets by the truckload, thereby bypassing the need to use oil to make the raw materials which are then used to manufacture other products.
Motor Oil
There are many practical uses for used motor oil. A primary use is to rerefine it into a base stock for lubricating oil. This process is very similar to the refining of crude oil. The result is that the rerefined oil is of as high a quality as a virgin oil product.
A secondary use of the used oil is to burn it for energy. Large industrial boilers can efficiently burn the used oil with minimum pollution. As a result some used oil is sent to power plants or cement kilns to be burned as fuel. On a smaller scale small quantities of used oil are burned in specially designed heaters to provide space heating for small businesses.
Did you know?
If you recycle just two gallons of used oil it can generate enough electricity to run the average household for almost 24 hours.
Cooking Oil
Cooking oil is also recyclable. Any water that is found in the oil is removed and taken to a water treatment plant. The remaining oil is filtered to remove any waste before being used in the manufacture of Bio-Diesel meaning that it can be used as fuel in a car!!!
Aluminium cans
Recycling aluminium cans save energy and natural resources, and also reduces the pressure on landfill sites. Once the cans have been collected, they are sorted and baled. They are then melted down and turned into ingots of aluminium which are used to make new cans.
Steel
Steel is easy to sort from the domestic waste stream because it is magnetic. Machines can sort domestic waste metals in large volumes before it is reprocessed. However, it is harder to recover from products like vehicles and electrical goods as these have to be dismantled first which is time consuming and labour intensive.
Once the steel has been sorted and baled it is:
- Put into the furnace where molten iron is added.
- Oxygen is then blasted into the furnace which heats up to around 1700 degrees centigrade.
- The liquid metal is poured into a mould to form big slabs which are then rolled into coils.
- These coils are used to make all sorts of steel products such as bikes, cars, bridges, paperclips or even new food and drink cans.
Light Bulbs and Florescent Tubes
Lightbulbs and Floresecent tubes can have a serious impact on the earth and environment. Energy efficient light bulbs containing mercury should always be recycled or disposed of properly.
Once the tubes and bulbs are taken away to the processing plant, they are separated and cleaned resulting in three resources.
Mercury contaminated filters and sludge; sent abroad to the open markets for recycling purposes.
Glass – this is processed as raw material in the glass industry.
Aluminum End Caps – sent abroad to the open markets for recycling purposes.
Did you know?
Previous use of Mercury in the Hat making industry, many years ago, led to the expression ‘Mad as a Hatter’. The twitching and dementia common amongst Hatters was caused by the dipping of felt into mercuric nitrate to soften it !
Paints
There are many ways that paint can be recycled. Most often, the highest quality of latex paint is sorted out and turned back into recycled paint that can be used. Recycled paint is environmentally preferable to new paint, while still maintaining comparable quality.
- Reusable paints of the same color are pumped into a tank
- The material is mixed and tested.
- The paint is adjusted with additives and colorants as necessary.
- The paint is fine filtered and packaged for sale.
Paint that cannot be reused has other environmentally-friendly uses. Non-reusable paint can be made into a product used in cement manufacturing, thereby recycling virtually 100% of the original paint.
Aerosols
About 90 percent of all aerosol cans are made of steel and the remaining 10 percent are made of aluminum. Both types can be recycled and used as a raw material for new products including new cans, car parts, washing machines and even window frames.
Textiles
Textiles such as clean clothes, sheets, underwear, blankets, duvets, net curtains and footwear are recycled in a variety of ways. The majority are graded/sorted and exported to many Countries around the World for re-wear. Anything that is not suitable for re-wear is recycled using special processes to make items such as flocking for mattresses, underlay for carpets, soundproofing for cars and industrial cleaning wipes.
Tyres
With millions of tyres being discarded each year, tyre recycling has never been so vital. As the rubber in tyres is very resilient, it can be reused in other products:
Old tyres are turned in to into high quality renewable resources.
- Trucks arrive at the processing plant with a full load of all kinds of rubber tyres. The trucks are then weighed on large industrial scaled to ascertain the exact weight of each load.
- The tyres are the sorted and organized, depending on their type, size and make up.
- Once sorted, the tyres are cut up into small pieces by heavy machinery. The tyres then travel into a main system where their components: Synthetic Fibre, Steel and Rubber are separated.
- The rubber component is then further broken down or ‘crumbed’ into the specific granule sizes that include: 0-1mm, 1-3mm and 8-15mm.
- All the separated components are then bagged and ready to be used in new products.
- They can be used to produce the likes of the following: playground surfaces, sporting surfaces, road surfacing, new tyres, landscape mulch, brake linings, carpet underlay and show soles
