What paper can i recycle

Of course, always check with your own waste management facility, and remember the zero waste lifestyle is about recycling less NOT more. The most important thing for recycling paper is that there is NO contamination in the recycling bin. This means that bottles and cans need to be empty of all liquids. Other food containers like yogurt tubs and pasta sauce jars should be rinsed. Any food, soda, beer, etc. With the onslaught of online shopping we have more cardboard boxes than every before.

These boxes are completely recyclable. Before recycling these boxes you should try to find a local business that will accept used shipping boxes for their own shipping needs. This way the boxes can be reused. We should try to keep our resources in play for as long as possible before recycling.

Remember, recycling is a last resort. Then we should reuse the cardboard boxes as many times as possible. Only when the cardboard box can no longer be used, should we recycle them. Brown paper is recyclable, but once again, before recycling see if someone else will take it and reuse it.

You can save it for place mats, for labeling a cheese board for a party , or even wrapping presents! Paper that comes out of your printer, bills, note book paper all of that is recyclable.

Something I found really interesting is that crumpled pamper is less likely to be recycled, but have no fear. If the paper is crumpled, torn in half, or folded it is still recyclable! While crumpled and slightly altered paper is recyclable, shredded paper is not. The paper fibers have been shortened too much and the small shreds can jam machinery and contaminate bales of other materials. Shredded paper is a great packing material especially for fragile items.

Magazines are recyclable! However, a lot of artists use magazines for their art projects. See if you can reuse this material before recycling it. If you have newer magazines donate them to libraries, waiting rooms, family shelters, nursing homes, etc. Any paper that is stained with food or cooking oils are not recyclable so parchment paper is out. However, you can reuse parchment paper several times and then ultimately compost it!

Butcher paper or freezer paper is coated with plastic. Wax paper is a mixed bag. It can be coated with a vegetable wax or coated with a petroleum based paraffin.

While it can breakdown in a backyard compost there might be some difficulties. The petroleum based paraffin is neither recyclable or compostable. Coffee cups are actually lined with plastic! To recycle coffee cups, waste management facilities have to have special machinery that separate the plastic lining from the paper cup. The lids are plastic 6 and not recyclable in most curbside bins, but the cardboard sleeve is recyclable!

Milk cartons, soy milk cartons, etc. Many have plastic linings like the paper cups. You have the power to prevent the estimated 1 billion trees that are thrown away by Americans every year! Acceptable office products By recycling your paper office products, they have a chance to become office supplies all over again.

Recycling centers and collectors will take corrugated cardboard, magazines, catalogs, telephone books, junk mail, newspapers — most types of paper can be recycled. This includes common office supplies such as sticky notes, printer paper, ream wrapper from printer paper , notebook paper, file folders, scrap paper, mailers, boxes, postcards, business cards non-glossy , envelopes, receipts, paper cups rinsed , etc.

While the majority of what you toss out while you work can be recycled, there are some exceptions to the rule. Unacceptable office products Papers that cannot be recycled are lumped into three main groups : soiled paper, shredded paper and wax-, plastic- or foil-coated paper. In most cases, if you put shredded paper in your recycling bin, it will end up in a landfill. Compost — If you have a compost bin, then you can throw your shredded paper in there.

Reduce the amount of paper with confidential information — Most banks and other financial services offer online statements instead of paper ones. Contact your local recycling plant — Recycling plants have different rules everywhere which is pretty annoying, I must admit. The main issue is the effect that the adhesive can have on recycling machines — it can get caught in the recycling process. If the paper has a plastic or aluminum coating, it can be recycled, but it is much more expensive and complicated.

Some plastic coatings can be separated from paper during the recycling process. Still, it is often cheaper and easier to use virgin materials to create new products than recycling paper coated with plastic.

This type of coated paper is mostly used in the food and drink packaging industry. Try to buy things in single-layer packaging materials, like — glass, aluminum, or paper. If you are not sure if a paper material has a plastic coating inside, look for a recycling code on the packaging.

Some wrapping paper includes textures, sellotape, foil, sticky tape, ribbons, bows, glitter, or other decorations that cannot be recycled. If you are not sure if you can recycle it, do the scrunch test. If you still want to wrap a gift, find out how to do it without wrapping paper or tape. Milk and juice cartons are made primarily of paper. Yet, these cartons also have a thin layer of plastic inside, aluminum, or sometimes both. There are two types of cartons — shelf-stable cartons like juice, milk, soy milk, soup, broth, etc.

Some milk cartons and juice boxes can be recycled, and others cannot because other non-recyclable materials are mixed with the paper. If the pizza box is clean not stained with food , you can recycle it.

First, however, you should remove all the dirty parts. So adding any oil to the mix essentially contaminates and ruins the whole batch. Yes — if you used paper to write, draw or print things, you can throw it into your recycling bin. You can quickly check if you can recycle it — rip a small piece of it.

If it is white in the middle, you can recycle it for sure. Yes, but only if they are not contaminated with food or coated with a second layer. It is best to avoid recycling wet paper. You can recycle most shiny paper, such as glossy magazines, flyers, leaflets, and catalogs. Glossy paper is accepted in local recycling programs, but make sure the paper does not have a plastic coating.

If the glossy paper is easy to tear apart, it should be fine.