I've never really been to a Council tip before but its really quick -in and out. There are huge square holes in a metal wall with the symbols on for various items. So I pulled back the rubber partitioning to have a look- 30ft drop with a huge digger running the length of a concrete football pitch scooping up as people dropped from various places and depositing ALL in one big pile.
This does happen at some sites, particularity those co-located with Waste Transfer Stations and then older sites at that.
Often what actually happens is the shovel or grab bulks up the HWRC waste in to piles with the incoming WTS waste for shipping out..
or it is all bulked up for sorting elsewhere…
the key is if people split their waste at point of deposit it then can be either bulked by waste type (especially if recyclate prices are good) or of not bulk together for something else to be done to it, sorting, incineration, gasification, digestion etc etc.. if it is mixed to start with it is much harder to unmix
as an aside household waste stream tonnages is the smaller part of the uk's waste stream it is amazing it gets so much coverage….
