Where Do Your Recyclables Go?
After leaving your home or business, your single-stream recyclables are most likely delivered to Millennium Recycling in Sioux Falls. There, workers remove contaminants (non-recyclable items), and then recyclable materials are sorted into groups like glass, steel, plastic, and cardboard.
Each material type, except for glass, then gets compressed into large, tight bundles called bales. These bales are then loaded onto trucks headed for factories to make new products from the recycled materials.
Even though where these materials go can change, below is where different recyclables are sent and what they are commonly 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 paper 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.