Where Do Your Recyclables Go?
After you put your recyclables out, they are usually taken to Millennium Recycling in Sioux Falls. There, workers remove items that can't be recycled. Then, the recyclables are sorted into different groups like glass, steel, plastic, and cardboard.
All the materials except for glass are squeezed into large, tight bundles called bales. These bales are then loaded onto trucks and sent to other factories. These factories use recycled materials to make new products.
Even though where these materials go can change, here is where different recyclables are sent and what they are used for.
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Mixed Cardboard & Cardboard Boxes
After being compressed into large bales, recycled paper is sent to paper mills in Minnesota, Wisconsin, or Michigan. At the mill, the paper is turned into a watery mix called a "slurry," which looks a bit like oatmeal. This slurry is then used to create new products. The paper you recycle might become new cardboard boxes, newspapers, paper bags, egg cartons, or even tissue paper.
Plastic Bottle, Tubs & Jugs
Compacted bales of plastic bottles are trucked to factories in Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, or Ohio. There, the plastic is either shredded into small flakes or melted into tiny pellets. These flakes can be tightly pressed to create plastic lumber, which can be used to build things like decks. The flakes can also be made into thin, cloth-like strands to produce items such as shirts and bags.
Glass Bottles & Jars
Glass containers are first broken into smaller pieces called cullet and then sent to a glass factory in Minnesota.
At the factory, the glass may be sorted by color (brown, green, and clear). It is then melted down and shaped into new glass bottles and jars. If the glass isn't sorted by color, it can be used to make other things, like fiberglass insulation or as a base for building roads.
Aluminum & Steel Cans
Large blocks of compacted metal, weighing between 1,200 to 1,800 pounds, are sent to special factories called"mini-mills." Here, the metal is melted down and turned into solid sheets or blocks called ingots. This process gets the metal ready to be used for making new products, like soda cans, bicycle frames, or even kitchen appliances.