When you think of a skip bin, you may not instantly think of the environment at the same time. You may assume, as many do, that the contents of your skip bin are destined for a rubbish tip, or similar. After all, you hardly segment the individual pieces of rubbish that you place in them, as you do when you're sorting out your daily household waste. Yet the company that provides you with your skip has different ideas. What happens when they come and collect it from you?
Off to the Recycler
The majority of companies that hire skip bins are dedicated to environmental protection and will be aiming to recycle as much of the material that they collect as possible. No longer does the vehicle head directly for a landfill or rubbish tip, but it will first go to a recycling centre.
The Process
Once a vehicle arrives at the centre the load is tipped out of the skip onto a large and slow moving conveyor belt. This belt will then enter a sorting area, where various members of staff will look through all the components and separate them out according to the type of material.
In other words, pieces of metal will be separated from plastic, and aggregate will be separated from wood. If there are any particularly large items, these may be removed and handled separately before the next phase. All of the components segmented on the sorting belt are dropped through to specific bays underneath. The material in each of these bays is then handled differently according to its composition. Usually, it will go through further screening and then could be compacted or shredded, before being placed into containers ready for transportation to further processing facilities.
Breaking It down
For example, old furniture made of wood is first broken down through the shredder and sent to manufacturers engaged in making new wooden products. It could also be diverted to a horticultural factory, in order to make mulch for your garden.
Typically, a large amount of soil is found in an average skip. This needs to be screened in order to remove contaminants first, but then it is sent to new land reclamation schemes in your vicinity.
Construction materials such as concrete, stone, tile or brick are typically crushed and then used as particulate matter for new building projects, home extensions or driveway construction.
Metal is of course in very high demand, especially in developing countries. Once it's been processed, it often finds its way through licensed metal dealers to overseas destinations.
Every Last Bit
Very little finds its way into a landfill, as anything that is left over following this segmentation can generally be used as "waste energy" in order to help generate electricity.
