Can I recycle sticky notes, paper towels, or wrapping paper?
There is a lot of paper in our lives; way beyond office paper, junk mail, and magazines. Here are a few more answers to help you get the right mixed paper into your recycling bin.
Question: Can sticky papers like post-it notes be recycled?
Answer: Yes
Question: Can restroom and kitchen paper towels that have been used to dry hands and counters be recycled?
Answer: No. There is bio residue and grease (similar to the case with pizza boxes) left behind that contaminates the paper so it cannot be recycled.
Question: Can I recycle shiny papers like receipts, movie tickets, and coupons?
Answer: Yes! These are all considered mixed paper and are indeed recyclable. Even if you choose to shred your receipts, you can recycle the paper shreds.
Question: Can I recycle paperback books?
Answer: No. Rumpke cannot accept these, but you can donate them to the public library or take them to a Half Price Books store for resale.
Question: Can wrapping paper be recycled if you get all the tape off?
Answer: Rumpke’s manufacturers will only allow a very small percentage of wrapping paper in a bale, and if there is too much it will not be accepted. At this time, Rumpke advises against adding wrapping paper to your recycling. However, back in the day, my grandma collected wrapping paper at holidays, trimmed the edges, ironed it on the lowest possible heat, and reused it. I hear it also makes great book covers for text books.
Thanks to Amanda Pratt of Rumpke for the facts!
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I happen to be one of the owners of MyJunkTree and as a new company I search the web to see if we are getting any visibility out there and I post on relevant blogs.
We launched the company because we were tired of all the junk mail we were receiving and we personally did not want to bounce all over the web to contact all the different companies to stop it all. First and foremost we wanted to let people choose what they wanted to let come to their home knowing that some people really do like some of the coupons and catalogs. So our clients choose what they want stopped.
We also had to provide a service that is different than the other services out there, so here is what we offer:
1. We have a database of over 1300 catalogs that you can choose to stop.
2. We have over a 2000 charities/Non-Profits that you can stop solicitations from.
3. Stop the delivery of the national phone directories.
4. Stop the delivery of the weekly coupons.
5. Stop the general credit card offers as well as the ones from your own major bank.
6. Stop the miscellaneous junk mail from the data brokers.
7. You can register on the National Do Not Call Registry from the website.
8. You can order your no strings attached free annual credit report right from the website.
9. We plant trees with every new membership.
And, yes we are a paid service and yes you can do everything that we do for free, if you want to do all the research and spend the time contacting the companies yourself it can easily be done. We have just done all of the legwork for our clients and feel there is value in the service we provide.
I am trying to find out where I can recycle plastic numbers 3-7. Rumpke nor the City of Cincinnati accept these, but they amount to a lot of the plastic I use. Anyone know??
Thanks so much for these series of posts about what can and can’t be recycled. I have a question that could be posed to your contact. What is the best way to package shredded paper for curbside recycling? I don’t want to just dump it into my bin so that it will go flying around the neighborhood. Thanks so much for your help!