It’s perfectly reasonable for people to get annoyed if they read stories in the media that their recycling, which they have carefully collected, ends up in landfill or is not actually recycled. Here in Newport that’s not the case.

Recycling in Newport is a partnership between residents, Wastesavers and the Council that helps create jobs, here in Newport and the UK, and helps the environment.

Putting recycling in separate boxes is the first stage of ensuring your glass, paper, plastics etc are recycled here in the UK. Our teams then put it all separate containers on our trucks.

This is not rocket science.  When a paper or plastics manufacturer needs recycled material they want to make sure they are getting what they pay for.

If we got glass mixed in with our paper we would not be able to sell it in the UK. The same goes for plastic in metal or any other material we collect.

There is no secrecy at Wastesavers – our “where does my recycling go” page will tell you exactly that – where it ends up.  And at the end of every destination is a company that is creating and maintaining jobs, whether in North Wales,  East England or here in Newport.

Today is Friday 20th February. The first teams have returned from their first rounds (they have to come back to base and unload when they are full).  These plastic containers and paper (see pictures) are almost certainly from from the eastern areas of Newport.

They will be shipped out early next week and in many cases will be made back into bottles, or cans or paper within a matter of weeks and back on supermarket shelves to start the cycle again. Last month we sent for recycling over 290 tonnes of paper and 230 tonnes of plastics (that’s a LOT of plastic bottles!)

People of Newport should be proud of the fact that every time they use their recycling box they are helping maintain jobs. And behind every job is a real person who will go out and spend the money they earn, in turn creating jobs; and so the cycle goes on.

Thank you for recycling.