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What Happens After You Put Recycling in the Bin in Dane County?
- Junk Jumpers
- Mar 7
- 3 min read
Most people in Dane County know they should recycle. Blue or green carts sit outside homes every week, filled with cardboard, bottles, and cans.
But have you ever wondered what actually happens after the recycling truck picks it up?
The process is more complex than many people realize. Your recyclables go through several steps before they eventually become new products.
Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at what happens after you put something in your recycling bin in Dane County.
Step 1: Collection from Your Home
In cities like Madison and many other communities in Dane County, recyclables are collected through curbside recycling programs run by local municipalities.
Residents place accepted materials in a recycling cart, typically including:
Plastic bottles and containers
Glass bottles and jars
Aluminum and steel cans
Paper and cardboard
Items must be clean, empty, and dry, and they are usually placed loose in the cart so they can be properly sorted later.
When the recycling truck arrives, the entire bin is emptied into the truck along with recyclables from other homes.
Step 2: Transportation to a Recycling Facility
After collection, the mixed recyclables are transported to a Material Recovery Facility (MRF).
For much of the Madison area and surrounding communities, recyclables are processed at the Kipp Street Station Material Recovery Facility in Madison, operated by Pellitteri Waste Systems.
This facility processes recyclables from tens of thousands of homes across the region.
When trucks arrive, the material is unloaded onto a large floor known as a tipping floor, where it begins the sorting process.
Step 3: Sorting the Recycling
Inside the recycling facility, the mixed materials move through a system of conveyor belts, screens, magnets, optical scanners, and human workers.
The sorting process usually includes:
1. Manual pre-sortingWorkers remove large contaminants or items that cannot be recycled, such as hoses, clothing, or electronics.
2. Mechanical separationMachines sort materials by shape and weight. Flat materials like cardboard separate from bottles and cans.
3. Magnets and sensors
Magnets pull out steel and other metals
Optical scanners identify different types of plastic
Air jets push materials into the correct streams
These technologies allow facilities to process large amounts of material efficiently.
The Kipp Street recycling facility in Madison can process about 15 tons of recyclables per hour, totaling tens of thousands of tons per year.
Step 4: Baling the Materials
Once sorted, recyclables are compressed into large blocks called bales.
Typical bale categories include:
These bales make the materials easier to store, transport, and sell.
Step 5: Selling Materials to Manufacturers
After baling, the materials are sold to manufacturers that use recycled materials to produce new products.
For example:
Cardboard and paper can become new boxes or packaging
Aluminum cans can be melted and turned into new cans
Plastic bottles can become new containers, clothing fibers, or packaging
At this stage, recycling becomes part of the global commodities market. The value of recycled materials changes depending on supply and demand.
Step 6: What Happens to Contamination?
Not everything placed in a recycling cart can actually be recycled.
Facilities often receive items like:
Plastic bags
Garden hoses
Food-contaminated containers
Non-recyclable plastics
If these items cannot be separated or reused, they are removed during sorting and sent to a landfill.
In some cases, about 20% of materials entering recycling facilities may end up as waste due to contamination or incorrect items.
This is why recycling guidelines matter so much.
Recycling’s Role in Dane County’s Waste System
Recycling is an important part of Dane County’s waste management strategy. The county aims to divert as much material as possible away from landfills while recovering usable resources.
Recycling programs, hazardous waste collection, composting, and construction-material recycling all help reduce the amount of waste buried in landfills.
The Bottom Line
When you place an item in your recycling cart in Dane County, it doesn’t just disappear.
Instead, it goes through a complex process:
Collected from your home
Transported to a recycling facility
Sorted by machines and workers
Baled into raw materials
Sold to manufacturers to create new products
Recycling works best when residents follow the guidelines and place only accepted items in their carts.
A clean recycling stream means more materials can be reused—and less waste ends up in the landfill.