It is important for everyone to recycle and compost as much waste as possible.
We can recover this waste through treatment technologies to make useful products.
Watch the video to find out how we convert your waste into energy and raw materials.
What happens to your food waste
Food waste is a valuable resource used to generate green energy right here in Cardiff. It creates electricity for local homes, schools and businesses.
Food waste is turned into energy to power our homes using a process called anaerobic digestion. This happens right here in Cardiff.
Check out the video to learn more about the process.
Food waste: did you know?
- Just one caddy of food waste can power your house for half an hour!
- Did you know that 6 recycled tea bags can produce enough electricity to boil a kettle?
- In a year, all the food waste in Cardiff could have filled up 11 Olympic sized swimming pools!
Watch the video to find out more about how food waste is recycled.
Useful links
- Check your collections on the Cardiff Council website.
What happens to your recycling
The council collects recycling using a separated system, where materials are split into reusable containers. This has:
- improved the quality of recyclables, and
- reduced single-use plastic usage.
Once the council collects your recycling and materials have been sorted, they are reprocessed depending on material type. Watch the videos to find out more:
Manufacturers then buy these materials and make new goods with them.
What happens to specific recyclables
Read more about what happens to your council-collected recycling on the My Recycling Wales website.
Useful links
- Find out about council waste services.
- Check your collection dates.
What happens to your general waste
We do not send waste to landfill in Cardiff.
Instead of sending waste to landfill, we work with a company called Viridor, that turns our waste into energy.
Visit the Energy Recovery Facility
If you would like to see behind the scenes in the plant, why not book a visit to the Viridor site in Cardiff?
What happens to your garden waste
Did you know that your garden waste is turned into compost, which can be used to grow more plants?
By recycling garden waste, we are helping the environment. The environmental impact of recycling garden waste in one year was the equivalent of taking nearly 2000 cars off the road!
Council services
Find out about council waste services.
