Categorizing the Paper in Your Life

Paper is a part of everyday life. It comes in many forms, yet you’re most likely able to put it all in the same recycling bin.

For paper recycling purposes, we can break it all down into three groups: loose-leaf, packaging and media.

Loose-Leaf Paper

This would include computer paper, lined paper and even letters in your mail. It needs the least treatment in manufacturing, as well as the least treatment prior to recycling.

Because white paper can be recycled into pretty much any form of paper product (including paper towels and tissues), you shouldn’t have trouble finding a location to recycle loose-leaf paper.

When loose-leaf paper is recycled, the two biggest preparations are removing potential contaminants (such as paper clips and staples, which can be removed at a recycling center) and de-inking.

Paper Packaging

Paper is a fairly common packaging choice for food and products that need to be shipped. It could be in the form of cardboard, paperboard, milk/juice/egg cartons or brown paper bags.

Packaging is thicker than loose-leaf paper because it needs to be more durable. This makes paper packaging a prime candidate for reuse before you recycle it, specifically cardboard boxes.

Packaging is typically sealed with some form of adhesive, whether it’s tape or glue, which is removed prior to recycling. In the case of food packaging, a special kaolin clay has been added to provide an easy printing surface, which is also removed at the paper mill.

Paper Media

The internet has revolutionized the way we access information, but paper media is still largely in play. It includes newspapers, magazines, catalogs, telephone directories and even books.

Paper media is typically the group that people forget to recycle (although according to the EPA, newsprint had the highest recycling rate of all paper in 2006 at 88 percent). Despite the fact that it may be glossy, ink-filled and flimsy paper, all these products are in fact recyclable.

Another common element is that other than newspaper, these media are held together with some sort of adhesive binding. Unfortunately this is not recyclable and will be chopped off prior to recycling. Also removed are any scented pages (such as perfume samples).

So now that you know all the types of paper that can be recycled, use Earth911 to find out where to recycle each type.