Visit to Hollingdean Recycling Centre

Visit to Hollingdean Materials Recovery Facility

Members of Bexhill Rotary Club recently visited the recycling centre behind Brighton. This enabled us to see what happens to our green bin contents when they have been collected.

When we arrived we were suitable dressed before entry in hard hats, safety glasses and high viz waistcoats. What is did not protect us from was the distinctive odour which permeated the site.

We were given a short safety video followed by a film about the site, then we began our tour. This involved clambering up metal walkways between conveyor belts of rubbish. Initial recycling is done by ingenious machines which, by means of air blasts and spinning drums with different sized holes in the sides, roughly sorts the waste. However, as it passes along numerous conveyor belts it is then sorted more thoroughly by hand; it certainly surprised me how labour intensive the process was with 28 staff on the site plus 40 lorry drivers collecting the material.

We were told that the site deals with 18,000 tons of recycling a year. The cardboard, plastic bottles and paper are all separated for reprocessing and any debris left over is sent to the Newhaven site, where it is burned to fuel electricity production.

We were all agreed that the outing was a real eye opener as to where and to what use our waste goes.