Waste or recycling?
As we all know we can’t or won’t recycle all papers we use at home or in the office. We will never throw our Euros in the recycling bin. The same counts for toilet paper which won’t be used again, and what do you think about all books we have at home? All those items are quite some kilos per year, but we have more items we can’t recycle in the facilities.
In The Netherlands we do a very good job in recycling. About 86% of all paper is being collected, recycled and used again. That is more than 2,5 million tons per year. It’s a saving of more than 7,5 million trees. In the EU the recycling rate is 73%. Recycled paper is being processed in recycling facilities as described in of our blogs before.
Then we still have the open question about the items we can throw in the paper bin. We have made a list with items you can throw in the paper bin or should go to general waste.
| Paper bin | General waste |
|---|---|
| Books | Drink cartons |
| Brochures (including staples) | Stickers |
| Egg boxes | Photos |
| Corrugated boxes | Paper with plastics attached |
| Newspapers | Paper coffee cups |
| Flyers (remove the plastics please) | Diapers |
| Printing paper | Pizza boxes with oil or fat on it |
| Envelopes | Cake boxes |
| Paper bags | Cash receipt (thermo paper) |
| Post its | Wallpaper |
| Magazines | |
| Not used tissues and napkins |
A few items of this list could be a surprise for you, as they were for me. I thought I had to take away all staples, but it seems to be that it is very easy to take the metal out of the paper waste. The items which could be a surprise are coffee cups and pizza boxes. Many people still throw them away in the paper bin, but we don’t want them there. In paper coffee cups there still is some plastic or wax to prevent the cup from leaking. In pizza boxes you always have some food, oil or fat left, which can’t be processed in the recycling facilities. If you have a pizza from the freezer, the box is clean and then you can handle it as a regular corrugated box.
In this article we hope to have given you more information about which items we can recycle in the paper industry so it will help you in your daily life. The most important thing is that we are recycling and use our resources in a responsible way. Corrugated is 100% recyclable, 100% bio based and 100% biodegradable and therefore a perfect option for your packaging.
