Recycling Percentages
Case reference FOI2026/01691
Received 11 August 2026
Published 27 August 2026
Request
Under the Freedom of Information Act I would like to know:
A) How much of GBC's recycling in the green wheelie bins actually gets re-cycled?
B) What happens to glass that goes into the bin whole or a wine bottle that gets smashed going into the re-cycling truck?
C) Do you know what happens to soft plastics that the supermarkets now collect? What can be made out of soft plastics?
D) Where does GBC re-cycling go to be made into something else after it leaves the initial re-cycling centre?
Response
Thank you for your recent request under the Freedom of Information Act.
Please find the answers to your queries below:
Under the Freedom of Information Act I would like to know:
A) How much of GBC's recycling in the green wheelie bins actually gets re-cycled?
All recyclable items in the mixed recycling bin are recycled. However, the mixed recycling bins also contain contamination (unacceptable items). The main contaminants are black sacks, food, textiles, wet paper & card, hazardous waste, wood and nappies. In the 2025/26 financial year, 10.1% of the total mixed recycling tonnage was marked as ‘prohibitive’ by the Material Recovery Facility (MRF) and removed / rejected from the recycling stream.
B) What happens to glass that goes into the bin whole or a wine bottle that gets smashed going into the re-cycling truck?
It is placed into a mixed recycling bay at the local transfer station before being moved to a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF). The glass is separated from the mixed recycling and sorted into colours. It is then moved to a manufacturer to be turned into new product.
More information on how waste is processed can be found at the following link:
www.surreyep.org.uk/your-waste/whathappenstoyourwaste/
More information on end destinations and tonnages is publicly available via the following website: www.wastedataflow.org.
C) Do you know what happens to soft plastics that the supermarkets now collect? What can be made out of soft plastics?
We do not hold data on destinations for waste collected in supermarkets. Soft plastics can be remade into things like outdoor furniture, plastic lumber, transport packaging materials, carrier bags or food grade packaging.
D) Where does GBC re-cycling go to be made into something else after it leaves the initial re-cycling centre?
After it leaves the transfer station / recycling centre it goes to a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) to be sorted into different material types. Once sorted it goes to specialist facilities that turn the material into new products. More information on end destinations and tonnages is publicly available via the following website: www.wastedataflow.org.
Yours sincerely,
FOI Team
Guildford Borough Council
Documents
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