Our students visited the local council's bin depot on 26th March to see what really happens to our waste once we put it out on the pavement.

Students taking part in Middlesbrough's Youth Challenge visited the local council's bin depot on 26th March to see what really happens to our waste once we put it out on the pavement.

The Year 9 students were curious about how the waste system works and what effect it has on our environment. At the depot the students discovered that once the waste is collected it ends up at Haverton Hill.

In fact most of our waste does not go to landfill like many people believe but is incinerated to produce electricity which can then be used in home all around the area. They also found out that most of the bin wagons now use Ad-Blue which is a fuel which converts pollutants into nitrogen and water.

In the UK we create 400 million tonnes of waste annually and 81% is sent to landfill. Nearly 50% of the household waste we create could be diverted from landfill by making compost or in anaerobic digestion processes. This green (plant) waste is mainly made up of wasted food.