Recycling colored paper

[Stephen Tashiro]

The directions for recycling paper (years ago) used to say not to put paper with colored printing into recycling collection bins. My city has just started curbside pick-up of recyclables and the directions let you put all types of clean paper in the containers. Has the technology of recycling improved? Or has printing technology changed so that paper with colored printing is now recyclable?

[Dan Hintz]

I don't think it was colored paper, per se, that was a problem but the wax-coated stuff (like the dimestore ads)... the wax really messed up the paper pulp batch.

[Jim Koepke]

The directions for recycling paper (years ago) used to say not to put paper with colored printing into recycling collection bins.

Technology changes, even in recycling. It also depends on how the local recyclers handle items.

I have lived in some areas where everything needed to be separated. In one area where I lived in California, it could all be mixed together. They had a separation facility to pull the different materials out into separate bins.

jtk

[Russ Filtz]

I don't think it was colored paper, per se, that was a problem but the wax-coated stuff (like the dimestore ads)... the wax really messed up the paper pulp batch.

The "wax" is actually clay, but yes they try to limit it in your news collected.

There are many grades of recycled paper, each with their own value. Naturally the recyclers want to keep the value up (clean newspaper, clean office "white", etc.). If too many colors got mixed into a "high grade" of white, then the whole load (bale) would get downgraded to "mixed paper". As separation and recycling technology has improved, the rules relax some, but they're still there. Clean news with limited inserts (glossies) get tagged No. 8 for de-inking into new newspaper. "Dirty" news gets tagged No. 6 or 7 and may either get sorted more or used as lower grade feedstock. Here's a quick link to some of the paper grades. Most of the grades are not specifically collected "post-consumer", they are handled at the industrial scrap level. This list is mostly post-consumer.

http://www.paperrecyclingcoalition.com/recycled/index.php/faqs/paper-recycling-terminology/


To see a big list of ALL paper grades, check this out!
http://www.paperindex.com/resources/pulppapergrades/a.aspx

[Rich Engelhardt]

We have a big yellow bin for the recycle stuff.

They toss the bags or dump the cans in the back of the truck, then empty the yellow bin on top of the other stuff.

Maybe they have somebody inside the truck sort it all out.....:rolleyes:

[David Helm]

My community has had curbside recycling for over twenty years. The kinds of items recyclable have increased over the years. Items are sorted at the recycling center (that means jobs!)